My Best Guarded Secret
by Snowpixie81
Summary: AU. Tomoyo, along with her 2 brothers, moves to a new town. What are they escaping from? What awaits them in the new place. Read and find out. Pairings: TouyaYue, EriolTomoyo, SyaoranSakura.
1. Chapter 1

My Best Guarded Secret  
  
Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura is not mine. They belong to Nelvana and Clamp.  
  
Warnings: Shounen ai, AU, language, OOC characters, slight bit o' angst, and ummmm a pathetic attempt at humor. Pairings: You'll see.  
  
Author's note: Hi minna. This is my first time at writing fan fiction. I absolutely adore CCS, and have read countless fan fics. This time I wanted to try my hand at this, and hope you'll like the results. Oh, and since this is an AU, that means there will be no Clow Cards, but the rest of the cast is here. Go on read and review.  
  
Chapter 1.  
  
"Are we there yet?"  
  
The girl, sitting in the back seat of a blue Honda CRV, asked for the umpteenth time within the last hour. She, along with her two older brothers, was heading towards to town of Spring Valley.  
  
"No Tomoyo, we are not. Geezz, will you chill out already! This is the thousandth time you asked."  
  
Piped up the elder of her two brothers, from the driver's seat. He pushed his tousled wind blown hair out of his eyes. The boy from the passenger seat lifted his eyes from the book he was reading, and looked at the back seat towards his sister.  
  
"Not too long now, don't worry. We'll be there in another hour or so." He replied gently to his sister.  
  
"Thank you Yue. Now if some people showed the same kind of patience and answered like normal people would.." She said teasingly with a hint of smile in her tone.  
  
"Hey! lay off my case. Isn't it enough that I am driving you guys to our new place, where we could have taken a flight. And I am not even complaining about not making any pit stops for food." Said Yukito, the guy with endless pit for a stomach.  
  
Tomoyo got up slightly from her seat, and gave her eldest brother a small hug around the neck, from behind.  
  
"Ahhh, the sacrifices you make for us dear brother. How can we ever repay your kind and generous hospitality?" Tomoyo teased again and Yue gave a small chuckle from his seat, his eyes back on his book. Yukito decided to humor his sister.  
  
"Hmmm, well first of all, you can stop complaining and whining. Secondly, I will get us there a little faster if you promise me a reward in the shape of a five course dinner at the end of our journey."  
  
Tomoyo pretended to give it a serious thought, when she squinted her eyes and tapped her chin as if in deep thought. "Umm Yue, does pizza counts as a five course dinner?"  
  
"Well Tomoyo, when it comes to our dear brother, a week old tuna sandwich is like a freshly prepared meal. Since they both disappear in a flash when they come encountered with Yuki. So I guess he would be happy with pizza."  
  
Yue, who had decided to join the little mind game that Tomoyo was playing with Yukito, put his book down. And besides, it was always fun to watch the hot-headed Yukito squirm when both Yue and Tomoyo ganged up on him.  
  
"Oh, hardy har har, make fun of the guys who likes a little more nutrition in his diet."  
  
"Remind me again, which part of the breakfast that you gobbled up today had any nutritious value. Was it the bowl of cocoa puffs cereal filled with chocolate nutrients, or was it the 4 pop tarts that you had right afterwards. Or maybe, it were those 2 sticky buns and a cinnamon roll that followed the pop tarts. Or could it have been the tall glass of Cherry Kool aid that finished up your humble, nutritious breakfast."  
  
Tomoyo asked innocently, batting her huge violet eyes up at her brother. Yukito, finding no answer, just sweat-dropped and told Tomoyo to sit back down on her seat, since she was leaning half way over the space between the driver and the passenger seat. Tomoyo returned to her seat, and petted the head of the golden retriever, who was sharing the seat with her.  
  
"Don't worry Jacky" she said lovingly "we'll be there soon. Then you'll be able to run around. I know you must be tired, but hold on a little longer, boy."  
  
The dog lifted his head and licked Tomoyo's hand affectionately. He then proceeded to lay his head on Tomoyo's lap, who was watching the scenery outside go by. 'So, we're finally moving to Spring Valley' she thought to herself. 'It's about time we left that place. I hope this change will be good on all of us'.  
  
She continued to watch the scenery and thought about what awaited them in Spring Valley. Since it was nearly the end of August, she will be starting her new school along with her brothers in September. She pondered over what kind of people she would meet and how many new friends she would make.  
  
The vehicle continued to make its journey down the highway, followed by a huge U-Haul truck carrying their belongings.  
  
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.  
  
TBC.  
  
Well here's the first chapter. Hope you guys will like it. I made Yukito really OOC because he is eldest of his siblings. And I believe that he would sort of have that attitude looking out for his younger brother and sister. Plus, the story is AU, so that means I can play with them any way I can. O.K. now go on and review. Please, no flames, you guys can offer some constructive criticism. Oh, and since I am still working with this story, if you guys have any suggestions, I am always open to them. All right enough ramblings, go on review. Till next time, Ja ne. 


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: First of all, a huge shout-out to Tomoyo-Chan, my very first reviewer. Thank you, thank you so very much. And also, Nariko, thank you so much for your support.  
  
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Card Captors, although I wish I did own Yue and Touya, hehehehe. Ahhh sadly, they belong to Nelvana and Clamp.  
  
Warnings: shounen ai, AU, language, slight angst, and humor :sweat drops:  
  
Pairings: Touya/Yue, Eriol/Tomoyo, Syaoran/Sakura, Yukito/???  
  
Chapter 2.  
  
Tomoyo must have fallen asleep lost in her thoughts, because the next things she knew, someone was gently shaking her shoulders. She opened her violet orbs and looked into smiling brown ones which belonged to her eldest brother.  
  
"Welcome to the land of living, Sis." said Yukito "and guess what, we're here!"  
  
Yukito had already let Jacky out, who was barking happily and jumping around Yue. It had taken them four hours to drive from San Francisco to Spring Valley (1). Yue was standing outside the house quietly looking at it, as if measuring it up.  
  
Yukito had parked the truck infront of their new, beautiful two story house. In Tomoyo's eyes, the house looked picturesque, with its large windows for plenty of air to go through, a chimney on the roof indicating a fire place, a small window indicating an attic at the top, a garage for parking 2 cars easily, and a beautiful small garden in their front yard. Tomoyo fell in love with the house immediately. It was a huge step up from the 3 bedroom apartment that they used to rent back in the city.  
  
Tomoyo glanced at the garage and wondered why Yukito hadn't just taken the truck inside the garage. As if reading her mind, Yukito said,  
  
"I could have parked inside but I wanted to check things out in the garage first. Make sure there aren't any cobwebs or other crap lying around. And I'll be damned if I let anything happen to Mom's car, and have her scream and yell at me for my incompetence."  
  
"You don't give Mom enough credit Yukito." Said Tomoyo. "She wouldn't yell at you for destroying her car. She would just speak to you continuously for an hour or two, until you fully understand how important it is to take care of someone's property."  
  
"Heh heh" Yukito sweat-dropped "Yeah, that's what I am afraid of most. Listening to Mom's lectures." He shuddered involuntarily.  
  
The U-Haul truck had parked a little away from the house, and two burly guys had stepped off. They went to the back and started taking out the boxes to take inside the house.  
  
Yukito and Yue started towards the house when a voice from behind stopped them.  
  
"Umm guys? Would you mind grabbing the boxes with my stuff and taking it inside?" Tomoyo asked both his brothers.  
  
"Why?" Yukito asked suspiciously, "what have you got in there, Tomoyo?"  
  
Tomoyo sweat-dropped and marveled at her brother's idiocy.  
  
"Geez big bro, will you get your mind out of the gutter. I am only asking you because I don't want those guys handling my things." Tomoyo looked apprehensively at the delivery men, who were throwing the boxes, from one inside the truck to the one standing outside. "I have some delicate stuff in there, you know, knick knacks, memorabilia. I don't want anything to break. Please, please please please."  
  
"Ohhhh, but I am tired from driving all this way, and I bet more than half the boxes are yours. Do you want us to carry all of them in there?" Yukito whined like a 5-year old.  
  
"No, only 4 of those boxes are mine. Can't you do it for your beloved little sister." Tomoyo asked pleadingly.  
  
"Come on Yuki, how heavy can they be? There are only four boxes." Said Yue, agreeing to grab Tomoyo's stuff.  
  
"No!" said Yukito firmly "I'll just tell those guys to be careful."  
  
Tomoyo decided it was time to use her secret weapon. She looked up at Yukito, her violet eyes wide with a sad expression in them. Her eyes looked liquid and a threat of tears falling down any minute was evident. Yukito tried to look away, but couldn't help it. He looked at her and melted on the spot.  
  
"Oh geez, all right, all right. Put those away. I'll do it, come on Yue."  
  
In a blink of an eye (heheh no pun intended) the tears were gone replaced with shiny smiling eyes again.  
  
"How you get through to him by using those eyes, Tomoyo, I'll never know." remarked Yue, noticing the change of expressions in his sister.  
  
"Ah, he just acts like a meanie, inside he's a big softie who would do anything for his loved one. He just whines a lot to keep up his macho persona." Tomoyo said lovingly "Just like you would do. The only difference is, you weren't cursed with such a hot head."  
  
At that moment, Yukito called out from the truck. He had already spoken to the delivery men and told them that he would take care of the boxes marked "Tomoyo's Things".  
  
"Yue! Get your ass over here and help me with this. They are God damn heavy and I'm not carrying them alone."  
  
Tomoyo smiled up at Yue and he returned her smile with a tiny smirk of his own.  
  
"And yet, we still love him despite his temper and foul mouth, don't we." Said Yue "I better go help him before he gives something out and we have to hear him complain all day."  
  
Yue walked towards the truck and Tomoyo looked on wistfully at his brother's retreating back. How she wished that Yue would show his play- full side more often, instead of his silent and quiet self that he had adopted. The events of the time gone by had left its marks on all of them, and caused some changes.  
  
"Hey Miss, do you want to take a look inside the truck to make sure nothing gets left behind." Said one of the delivery men, while hefting a huge box inside the house.  
  
Tomoyo snapped out of her thoughts and answered "Okay, sure", and climbed in the back.  
  
The truck was empty, so she stepped off. On the sidewalk by the truck, she noticed a small book. She went towards it and picked it up. It was one of their family albums. 'Hmm, must have fallen from one of the boxes that Yukito, the ever graceful one, was carrying' mused Tomoyo.  
  
She flipped open the album to the first page and started towards the house. The album contained within it pictures of Tomoyo and her brothers' childhood. She looked at herself at age four, her short purple hair in two pig tails, chasing after her brothers who were running ahead. In another picture, all three of them were lying in a mud puddle, all covered in mud and laughing jovially. She flipped the pages and looked at the one where all three of them were eating ice-cream cones. Yukito was trying to snatch away Tomoyo's cone, sneaking from behind, while holding his own in his left hand. Yue had ice cream dripping down his hands, and he was pointing at Yukito trying to warn Tomoyo. She chuckled silently looking at this photo, recalling their youthful antics.  
  
She was so lost in her memories that she wasn't watching where she was going, and bumped straight into someone who was coming from the opposite direction. The collision caused her to lose her footing and she stumbled backwards. She closed her eyes and awaited the moment when her bottom would collide with the concrete sidewalk. It was a beautiful day with broad day light, so she didn't want to look at the stars that would dance in front of her eyes, when the impact came.  
  
It never did.  
  
Tomoyo opened her eyes slowly and her vision was met with a broad chest. She allowed her eyes to move upwards and was met with a midnight blue gaze, smiling at her from behind a pair of glasses. She let out a relieved breath and found out why she hadn't fallen down. The owner of the beautiful eyes had both his arms wrapped around her waist and was holding her close to him.  
  
"Are you o.k. Miss?" asked the man, still holding her in the circle of his arms. His voice a deep, rich baritone falling over Tomoyo in waves. She felt his chest vibrate when he spoke, and realized that her hands were splayed over him. She came out of her trance and stepped away from him. He bent down to pick up the album that she had dropped and handed it over to her.  
  
"Th..thank you," she stammered "thanks for saving me from a disgraceful fall."  
  
He chuckled softly "no problem, any time."  
Now that they were standing apart, Tomoyo got a good look at him. He had at least 6 inches of height over her 5' frame. He had smooth, dark blue hair falling off the side of his face, and some wild strands fell over his forehead. Tomoyo wondered if they would feel as silky as they looked if she ran her fingers through them, but quickly chased that thought away. He was wearing a black T-shirt, tucked into a pair of tight blue jeans. His frame spoke that of an athlete, with his slightly muscular arms, to his taut stomach, and shapely legs. Tomoyo wondered if he was a football player or at least a runner.  
  
"Ummm, yeah. My name is Tomoyo Daidouji, and I just moved in this house today, with my family." She pointed at her house, fighting off the blush that was quickly spreading over her delicate pale skin.  
  
"Well then, I guess we'll be next door neighbors. It was a pleasure to bump into you Tomoyo. I'm Eriol Hiiragizawa."  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
TBC  
  
I know that no such place exists. I made up this name by combing two other places names.  
  
Author's notes: I hope you'll like this chapter guys. Please don't forget to review. I welcome constructive criticism. I am still developing this idea, so you'll forgive me if there really isn't a plot yet. All right, Ja. 


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Notes: Hi minna. Everyone who thinks college is slowly sucking out your soul raise your hands ~.~() Uh, hehehe, a little introspection there. Anyway, I am so glad people are actually reading this fanfic. A very humble thank you to everyone who reviewed *bows deeply*. Here's the next chapter.  
  
Disclaimer: Yue is mine,mine, Muahahahahahhaaaa..*thonk* gets hit in the head with a reality brick. Ummm no he isn't . he, along with the rest, belong to Nelvana and Clamp  
  
Warnings: Shounen ai, AU, language, slight angst, oh and humor  
  
Pairings: Touya/Yue, Eriol/Tomoyo, Syaoran/Sakura, Yukito/???  
Chapter 3.  
  
Yukito brought up the last of the four boxes up the stairs and stacked them next to each other in the hallway. He stretched his back by first bending backwards, then side to side to take the kinks out. There were four bedrooms on the second floor. And since he hadn't known in which room would Tomoyo like to reside, he left her stuff in the hallway.  
  
He peeked inside the first room at the end of the hall, on top of the staircase. The room was spacious, with large windows at the opposite wall. It was empty, save for the wall to wall carpeting, which was different in the room then the one out one the hallway. It was more plush, something you can sink your feet into after a long hard day. There was also a queen size bed in there whose mattress was still in its plastic sheeting. The second room was pretty much the same as the one, so he went to the third one.  
  
He found Yue in there, sitting on the window ledge, staring outside at the street below. This room too contained a bed and plush carpet. Yukito stood in the doorway not wanting to disturb his brother just yet. He stared at his brother's profile. Yue had lost a lot of weight over the last few months. Not that he was, what one would call, fat. But he still used to have that healthy glow that shines on peoples faces. His right leg was propped up underneath him, and he was resting his elbow on it. His long silver blond hair, which were flowing down his back almost reaching to his hips, were clasped at the base of his neck by a black hair tie. He had shrugged off his grey sweatshirt which was resting on the bed, and now was sitting there in his white T-Shirt and blue form fitting jeans. His silver eyes were glazed over and had a faraway look in them, as if contemplating in deep thought.  
"So, I take it this will be your room then?" he asked Yue, interrupting his solitude.  
  
Yue, who hadn't realized the Yukito was standing at the door, startled and looked towards him.  
  
"Hmmm, yeah, I guess." He replied.  
  
"Oh yeah, o.k. cool. I'll set up your computer in here then, in whichever corner you want." Yukito remarked looking around the room. Yue went back to gazing outside.  
  
Yukito walked towards the closet and threw open the door.  
  
"Wow, would you look at the size of thins thing. Its freaking huge! You could practically walk in, decide on an outfit, and change in there while you're at it." Yukito rambled on. "And look at this, your own BATHROOM." He walked towards the door located inside the room. "Oh My God, finally, our own bathrooms. No more waiting in lines to take a shower, no more Tomoyo hogging it in the morning. Don't you think its great Yue. I am so happy I think I might cry." Yukito said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. He had babbled on trying to get Yue to snap out of his stupor and join in the conversation.  
  
Yue looked back at him and offered him a small smile.  
  
"Yeah, I am glad to have my one of my own. Usually I was the one who almost always used the bathroom last."  
  
Yukito grinned at him. "That's cuz you never argued over it with me or Tomoyo."  
  
He remembered their times back in San Francisco, when they would have huge bouts among Tomoyo and himself over who gets to use the bathroom first.  
  
"Tomoyo is very crafty when it comes to the art of arguments, among other things. She always won and got her way." Yukito recalled.  
  
Yue politely held his tongue and didn't mention the fact that Tomoyo got her way, by not winning the arguments, but rather by using her hurt puppy dog expression. Which never failed when it came to Yukito "the big softie" as was pronounced by his younger sister.  
  
"Umm, so what do you want to do now." Piped up Yukito. "You wanna start unpacking immediately or maybe take a break and get out in the town. We can take a drive around to see what this town has to offer. Maybe look for places we can eat, check out the mall, look for restaurants, see where the school is, did I mention looking for a place where we could chow down." Yukito spoke nonstop, his stomach doing most of his talking for him. "And then may be we could.."  
  
Brriing.  
  
His ramblings were interrupted by his cell phone. He took the phone out of his breast pocket of his long sleeved shirt, and flipped it open.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Oh, Hi Mom, how you doing?"  
  
"I am doing fine, how are you guys doing?" Sonomi Daidouji answered from her end.  
  
"When did you guys get there? How was the drive? Did our luggage make it there o.k.? Are the new beds placed in all the rooms? I had told the mattress company to make sure to put one in each room. How's Yue holding up? How is Tomoyo?"  
  
It was hard to stop Sonomi Daidouji once she started going. This trait of her was evident in her eldest child.  
  
"Mom, Mom, chill out. Everything's fine. Yue and Tomoyo and both o.k. And why wouldn't they be, they are with their responsible older brother. We got here about an hour ago, and we just finished hauling the boxes. The beds are placed, one in each room. We were just about to step outside to take a look around town." He replied his mother in very much the same way she had questioned. "Oh Mom, I love this place. I think it was due time for us to start making some necessary changes in our life." He threw a wistful glance at his younger brother. "So, when are you getting here?"  
  
"Oh honey, I'll be there in about a week. I just have to tie up some lose ends. Take good care of your brother and sister. Where are they, let me talk to them."  
  
"Well Mom, right now Yue and I are standing in the room that he has claimed rather forcefully," he winked at Yue "and Tomoyo is still downstairs. Here talk to him." He threw the cell phone to his brother who snatched it smoothly from the air.  
  
"Hi Mom, how's it going?"  
  
"I am o.k. dear, how are you holding up."  
  
"I am doing fine." Replied Yue.  
  
"So, how do you find this new place so far?" Inquired Sonomi.  
  
"So far, I find it non-threatening." Yue replied icily. Yukito whipped his head towards Yue at those words.  
  
"Yue, honey." Sonomi didn't know what to say. She was rendered speechless.  
  
"Its o.k. Mom. I like this town. Why don't you speak to Tomoyo now. I am sure she wants to tell you all about how she likes this new house." Yue replied quickly.  
  
"All right dear, you take care of yourself you hear. I'll see you when I get there." Said his mother, "I love you, sweetheart."  
  
"I love you too, Mom" he handed the cell phone over to Yukito, silently requesting him to bring it to Tomoyo.  
  
Yukito gave him a meaningful look and said "I'll be right back, and we'll talk." He took off leaving Yue alone with his thoughts.  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.  
After that small incident outside, Tomoyo entered the house and went straight into the living room. She was followed by her faithful companion, who proceeded to sniff out his surroundings. Shaking off her thoughts about the boy she just met, she concentrated on her new house. If the outside of the house was picturesque, the inside was simply breathtaking.  
  
After the entrance through the door, there was a small hallway to take your shoes off. There was also a closet in the hallway to hang your coats. The hallway lead into the inner part of the house. To the left was the spacious living room and further down was the dining area. To the right of the dining area was the huge kitchen.  
  
Tomoyo walked in the kitchen to take a look around. Their kitchen was very well equipped. They had the brand new stoves and oven with an exhaust on top to let the smoke and steam out. 'That will come in handy when either Yue or Yukito are in here cooking something' thought Tomoyo looking at the exhaust, reminiscing about the times her brothers had caused kitchen disasters. There were large shelves and cabinets lining the wall. There was a juice make, a dough mixer and a microwave oven placed on a small table in the corner. The fridge was built into the wall and there were two different doors to open it. 'Hah' thought Tomoyo amusedly 'Finally a place where we can stack enough food to sustain Yukito for at least a week'.  
  
She walked out of the kitchen and went past the dining area. There was a staircase that lead to the second floor, and Tomoyo could see the doors to the 4 bedrooms that lined against the hallway. Right underneath the bedrooms, on the first floor, were 2 more rooms. 'Ahh, the guest rooms' she thought. She remembered her Mom telling her that the house had six bedrooms, 4 upstairs for the family, and 2 downstairs for guests. Leading away from the stairs, she came to the sitting area. There was a huge empty space for television and stereo systems to be set up. A task which she wouldn't have to bully or plead Yukito and Yue into doing. In fact, Yukito would see to it that everything is installed as son as the equipment gets here. The sitting area led into the back yard. And instead of a solid wall, there was a glass sliding door along with a screen door as separator. She glanced at the back yard through the glass door and saw how spacious it was. Instead of the garden area that dominated the front yard, the back yard was mostly hard concrete floor. The best thing that she saw there was the swimming pool in the middle. She smiled and imagined how beautiful the pool would look when it's brimming with sparkling blue water. She could almost envision Yue taking a dive in and swimming around, something he had loved to do.  
  
She heard a faint shrill of a cell phone ringing but didn't pay it a lot of attention. She walked back into the living room and collapsed on the cream colored, leather sofa that was placed in there haphazardly. She had a lot of work cut out for her. Her mother had done her job, when she had visited their house a month ago, of purchasing bare necessities. Now it was up to Tomoyo to put things in order. When in came to decorating, no body had a better opinion about where things should go, then Tomoyo. Which is why her mother had entrusted in her this task.  
  
She heard footsteps coming down the stairs and whipped her head around to see who it was. Yukito was coming towards her with his cell phone.  
  
"Its Mom, she wants to talk to you." He handed her the phone and went back up the stairs.  
  
"Hi Mom, how's it going?" she asked cheerfully.  
  
"Hello darling, I am fine. So how do you like your new house?" inquired Sonomi from the other end.  
  
"Oh My God, Mom, I absolutely love it." Tomoyo said enthusiastically. "It's gorgeous. Its way better then when you described it. You didn't tell us we had a garden. Its beautiful. And the back yard. We have a swimming pool. Oooh, I can't wait to take a swim in it. I have only just seen the first floor, and I love it so much already."  
  
A small laughter could be heard from the other line, and Sonomi replied.  
  
"I know you're excited when you start sounding like your brother. I am glad you liked it and I didn't tell you about the garden and the pool because I wanted you to find it for yourself."  
  
Tomoyo chuckled "I don't know if I should resent that remark about sounding like Yukito. But seriously Mom, the place is great."  
  
Sonomi sighed and asked in a more serious tone.  
  
"Tomoyo, how is Yue holding up? I didn't want you guys to go there alone, but I still had some things to take care of. You know, transferring my paper work and other important document to the Hospital in Spring Valley. I am also having a tough time with my patients. I am referring them to other doctors, since I wouldn't be able to see them anymore, but they don't want another doctor. They are being very difficult." She explained tiredly.  
  
"Well Mom, you aren't a re-known surgeon for nothing. You are the best in the field that's why they don't want you to leave. Oh, and Mom, Yue is doing just fine."  
  
Sonomi took a deep breath and said.  
  
"Listen Tomoyo, you take care of Yue. Actually, take care of both your brothers. You are the most level-headed of my children, and it's you who I can trust with this task."  
  
"Of course Mom, I'll make sure they don't get into any trouble. Ummm well, I'll make sure they don't get into a lot of trouble." Replied Tomoyo.  
  
Sonomi chuckled softly.  
  
"Oh, and make sure that Yue eats properly. I don't have to worry about Yukito, I know that boy can hold his own when it comes to food. But make sure that Yue doesn't skip any meals. After that incident, he just stopped caring for himself. He hasn't been eating right and I am really worried about him." Sonomi's voice got a little misty towards the end.  
  
"Mom, don't worry. Everything is going to be just fine. You'll see, this change of scenery will do all of us a lot of good. I can feel it in my heart." Tomoyo reassured her mother.  
  
"I can always count on you to say the right things, honey. I have to go now. Give your brothers my love and take care of yourself. I'll see you guys in a week." Sonomi said from her end.  
  
"O.k. Mom, see you."  
  
"Good bye darling, I love you."  
  
"I love you too Mom, bye."  
  
Tomoyo flipped the cell phone closed and took a deep breath. She went to the window in the living room and sat on the ledge. She took out her wallet from her back pack, which was deposited near the doorway. She opened it to reveal a picture of herself and her brothers taken last summer. 'How much has changed in our lives within the time space of a year.' She thought to herself glancing out the window. 'I hope we'll be able to forget about the past and move on. Then maybe things will go back to the way they used to be.' She looked back down at the picture. In this one, she was standing with Yue and Yukito, Yukito had his arm around Yue's neck holding him in a slight headlock and he was giving the camera a V sign with his fingers. Yue had his right arm draped around Tomoyo's shoulders, holding her in an embrace in front of him. All three of them had huge smiles on their faces. Tomoyo traced her index finger over Yue's picture and whispered softly.  
  
"I hope you'll be able to fight and defeat the demons that haunt you Yue, and maybe then you'll be able to come back to us."  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
TBC.  
  
Author's notes: There, another chapter is done. I hope you guys will like it. And please don't forget to review. I crave them ^_^ 


	4. Chapter 4

Random Thought: Snowing in April, huh, go figure O.O  
  
Disclaimer: Bunny Chan is sitting on a chair, in front of a locked door.  
  
Bunny Chan: *whistles innocently, while filing her nails*  
  
*knock knock knock*  
  
Yue: Bunny Chan let me go. I don't belong to you. I belong to Nelvana and Clamp. Bunny Chan, open the door. Grumblegrumbleletmegoyoupsychogrumblegrumble.  
  
Bunny Chan: *continues to whistle ignoring the voice*  
  
Warnings: Shounen ai, language, AU, minor angst, humor ^_^  
  
Ratings: PG-13, mostly for language.  
  
Pairings: Touya/Yue, Eriol/Tomoyo, Syaoran/Sakura, Yukito/???  
  
Chapter 4.  
After Yukito had left him, Yue had gone back to his thoughts. He had felt bad about what he had said to his mother, but he couldn't retract those words. The city of San Francisco held within it a lot of bad memories that Yue would rather forget. What had happened there had caused Yue to place himself inside a shell, where no one not even his family had been able to break through. The only times he had been able to be himself was when he was with Tomoyo. He had the sweetest younger sister, and if he was quiet and withdrawn, Tomoyo herself would be quiet and unresponsive too. She loved her brother dearly, and didn't want to see him aloof. She had known that if she acted like she was sad or upset, it would help in dragging Yue out of his shell, if only just for a little while. He always tried his best to be cheerful around her, as much as he can.  
  
Yukito came back to the room and perched himself on the edge of the bed. He looked at Yue silently, as if waiting for him to start the conversation.  
  
"Well?!" said Yue.  
  
"Aren't you going to yell at me and tell me what an idiot I'm being, still holding on to the past?" He asked Yukito, bitterness evident in his voice.  
  
"If you know than I don't have to tell you." Answered Yukito rather calmly. "I just want you to speak to me, and tell me what's on your mind. If you keep your feelings and thoughts bottled up inside, you'll burn out Yue."  
Yukito was very worried about his brother. He knew what had happened in the past had caused Yue great amount of grief. What bothered him more was the Yue never talked to any of them about it. He never showed his feelings, his anger, his fear. He and Yue used to be so close to each other. There was barely a year that separated their age. They had shared everything, from clothes to their deep dark secrets. And now it was as though there was an invisible shield that had formed between them. And damn it if that didn't hurt.  
  
"There really isn't anything to tell" said Yue in a voice devoid of emotion "I killed my best friend. End of story."  
  
Yukito had to hide a shudder that ran through his body at Yue's icy tone. The way he spoke so easily about it, as if they were discussing some mundane topic, scared Yukito to no end.  
  
"What you have done was an act of self-defense. But Yue, the circumstances that led you to do this task must.."  
  
"I'd rather not talk about those at the moment." Yue interrupted him mid- sentence, pinning him with his silver gaze.  
  
Yukito sighed deeply and asked Yue.  
  
"O.K then, let me ask you this. Why do you think we moved from that big city to this small town?"  
  
Yue looked at him like he had just asked an absurd question.  
  
"Well, isn't it obvious. Mom was transferred here from her Hospital, because they needed a new surgeon." Yue answered looking at him.  
  
"Wrong Buddy!" said Yukito "Her Hospital hadn't wanted her to leave. She is a great aspect to them. She made the decision of moving here because of you. She wants you to be happy again. She wants things to go back to the way they were. And she knew that it would be an impossible task if we continued to live there. She had spoken to me asking my opinion and I agreed wholeheartedly." Explained Yukito a little smugly. It wasn't very often that he got the chance to prove his brother wrong.  
  
Yue looked at him quietly for a long time.  
  
"Hn," he grunted "I don't know how that's going to make a difference. You only changed the environment we were living in. You can't change the state of my mind." Yue said now facing Yukito, fully turned away from the window.  
  
At his words, Yukito gave him a huge grin, which caused Yue to narrow his eyes at him suspiciously. 'what's up with him?' Yue mused.  
  
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Spoke Yukito. "I can already see a difference in your state of mind, as you put it. You have spoken more words ever since we started today's trip, than you have all last week. Yep, I think this change is going to make a difference." Yukito still had that silly wide grin on his face.  
  
Yue just stared at him, and shook his head slightly. His silver bangs covering his eyes to hide a tiny smile that had formed there at his brother's antics.  
At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Yue realized that his too- caring brother had closed the door behind him when he came in. He looked at him questioningly.  
  
"I just wanted a little privacy, that's all." Said Yukito shrugging his shoulders.  
  
"Come in Tomoyo." Called out Yue.  
  
Tomoyo walked in. In her hands she was carrying a tray with three tall glasses of lemonade, and she was supporting an angelic smile on her face.  
  
"I opened up some boxes and dug this stuff up." Said Tomoyo. "I figured you guys must be thirsty after having to lift those extremely heavy boxes of mine." Tomoyo looked pointedly at Yukito, whose eyes had lit up at the sight of her.  
  
"Tomoyo!!" He yelled. "My most favorite sister in the whole world." He eyed the lemonade, a hint of drool present at the corner of his mouth.  
  
Again Yue shook his head, this time good naturedly.  
  
"Your only sister in the whole world!"  
  
Tomoyo placed the tray on the floor since there was no table, and sat down. She was soon joined by her brothers who decided to leave their posts and sat down besides her.  
  
"You guys, I love this house." Tomoyo started the conversation. "Did you guys check out the pool in the back yard? Its magnificent." Tomoyo said smiling widely at Yue.  
  
He offered her a small smile in return.  
  
"Yeah, I had glanced at it before coming upstairs. It's awesome." He picked up his glass and brought it to his lips, taking a small sip.  
  
Yukito had already drained his glass.  
  
"Ummm, you guys, you think we could go and grab something to eat now?" Yukito asked his two younger siblings, wiping his mouth with his sleeves.  
  
"And the sitting area is so spacious. It would be great to have friends over, and not run out of the room to sit down." Said Tomoyo, ignoring Yukito, continuing her conversation with Yue. "I can just imagine a big screen TV in there, with a surround sound system."  
  
"I am serious guys, I'm starving." Piped up Yukito again.  
  
"Oh yeah! And we have to have a large speaker system set up too. That way, if we want we could have some music in the back yard by the pool." Said Yue, joining Tomoyo's game to see how long would Yuki last.  
  
"This is not funny. If you guys don't stop it now, I'll just leave without you two." Yukito's left eye had started twitching.  
  
"Oh, and I love the colors Mom picked out for the sofas." Said Tomoyo.  
"Yeah, they're very sophisticated." Said Yue, barely able to hide the grin that threatened to break out any minute.  
  
"All right!! That's it!! You guys wanna play game. You play games. I'm outta here." Yukito got up and trudged out of the room.  
  
"Do you think we might have taken it a bit too far?" Yue inquired, now grinning.  
  
He looked at Tomoyo. Tomoyo looked at him.  
  
"Naaahhh!!!" they both said in unison.  
  
"Hey big bro, wait up!" called out Tomoyo laughing.  
  
"Come on, or he'll leave without us."  
  
She grabbed Yue's hand and dragged him with her. He barely had time to snatch up his sweat shirt before she pulled him out of the room.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Across the street, from his bedroom window, a boy was watching the going ons in the house in front of him. He saw a boy, about 18 years old, stomped out of the house. He was making his way down the path from the doors to the main gate. He was followed shortly by another boy, with long silver-blonde hair, and a girl. The girl was laughing and calling out to the first boy to wait up. The boy with the short dark-grey hair and an obvious temper, sat in the driver's seat of the Honda CRV, that was parked in front of the house. The boy with the long hair sat in the passenger seat, and the girl boarded in the back. The girl was waving cheerfully to an energetic golden retriever, who was barking happily from behind the gate, and than the family had took off.  
  
Holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hands, Eriol Hiiragizawa chuckled lightly at the antics of the family that had just moved in today, across from him. 'Tomoyo Daidouju' he recalled the girl's name. He remembered what had happened earlier today.  
  
He was on his way home when he had noticed the delivery truck in front of the house which had been empty for a long time. He knew someone was going to move in soon, because of all the renovations that had been going on for the past 2 months. He noticed two boys carrying a couple of boxes inside the house. They looked like they could have been twins, except for minor differences. The boy with short dark-grey hair was slightly taller in height than the boy with long silver-blonde hair. And even though there faces were almost identical, the boy with the short hair had hazel-brown eyes, while the other one had silver-grey eyes. Almost identical to the color of this hair. Then he had noticed the girl.  
  
The girl was walking towards him with her face buried in a book. She had long and silky purple hair, which were tied up in a high pony tail. A few wild strands had come undone and were grazing her cheeks. She was wearing blue stone-wash jeans and a short sleeved, light green T-Shirt. He was too busy taking note of her appearance that he didn't realize that he had walked straight into her. And obviously, the girl had been too lost in her thoughts to notice anything around her.  
After the collision, he quickly got his bearings in order, and put his arms around the girl to support her. He noticed amusedly that the girl had closed her eyes. When she opened them and looked up at him, Eriol forgot about the world that existed around him and felt himself drowning in the endless violet pools. He had quickly snapped out of it and asked if she was o.k. Up close, he had a better view of her. She had a very beautiful face with incredibly delicate features. Her skin looked so silky and soft that Eriol had to wonder if she would bruise if he touched her even lightly. She had beautiful purple eyes with large eye lashes casting a shadow over her cheeks. She had told him that she just moved in today with her family. He had introduced himself, and told her he would see her around.  
  
'What a peculiar girl.' Eriol snapped out of his thoughts. He put a stop to these thoughts and started thinking about what lay ahead. In about a week, the school will be re-opening. He was going to be a junior in high school this year. He was looking forward to starting school because that meant that once again, he'll be able to get close to his object of unrequited affection. That object that he had desired for the last two years came in the form of a pretty face and long crimson hair.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At first glance, to a stranger, the three people sitting at that table didn't look like they were related at all, much less brothers and sister. Even though their facial features were similar, the way they carried and presented themselves was completely different from one another.  
  
First, there was the boy, who looked like the eldest of the group. He had short dark-grey hair, some of which were falling over his forehead. He had intelligent hazel-brown eyes, where if one looked closely could find a dangerous spark. He was sitting there stiffly, indicating he had a temper and he wasn't afraid to show it. He was tall, reaching about 5'11" and had a well-built body, evident that he liked to work out and keep in shape. He was wearing a long sleeved, navy blue button down shirt, which was tucked into a pair of tight black jeans. His top three buttons were undone, and he had rolled his sleeves up to the elbows.  
  
Than there was the second boy, who looked slightly younger than the first one. He had beautiful, long silver-blonde hair, which were tied at the base of his neck. They rest of his hair flowed silkily down his back, almost reaching his hips. A few locks of hair had come undone, and were now framing his angelic face. He had very pale skin with two silver orbs peeking out from behind silver eye lashes. His beautiful eyes held within them an icy tone, capable of freezing over the bravest of the men. He jaw was set like he wasn't used to making a lot of conversations, or smiling for that matter. He had a neutral look to his face, showing neither joy nor any anger. He stood at about 5'9" and had a lithe frame. He wasn't built like his older brother, he was what one would call fragile. He was wearing a white T-Shirt, and a pair of blue jeans. There was a grey sweat shirt tied around his middle.  
  
He seemed to be showing an indifference to the world around him, except when it came to the girl sitting next to him. Some of the ice that was evident in his demeanor, seemed to melt when he set his gaze on the girl with smiling purple eyes.  
  
That girl was their youngest sister. It was clearly evident that the girl loved her two brothers dearly, and they reciprocated her feeling just as much. She had beautiful violet eyes, and long purple hair which she was wearing in a pony tail. She was not only the youngest, but also, the shortest of the group standing at 5'. This was the Daidouji family.  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
'Finally we're here' thought Yukito relaxing a bit in his chair.  
  
"Now where is that damn waitress to come and take our orders." He said out loud. "I am starving here."  
  
"Aaahhemm" someone cleared their throat and all three of them looked up.  
  
It was a girl, wearing the restaurant's uniform of white shirt and blue and white checkered short skirt. There was an apron tied around her middle, supporting the logo of the fast food restaurant. She had copper red hair, tied in two pony tails. She looked to be around Tomoyo's age.  
  
"Hi, my name is Chiharu, and I'll be your damn waitress today." She said good naturedly.  
  
Tomoyo and Yue sweat-dropped and Yukito harrumphed and muttered "about time". He was promptly kicked in the shin by Tomoyo, under the table.  
  
"Hey!!" he yelled.  
  
"Please ignore my brother's remark." Tomoyo said to the waitress. "I apologize for his behavior. We don't take him out much because of the way he acts around other people." Tomoyo said giving a stern look in Yukito's direction.  
  
Chiharu gave a small laugh and Yue hid his smirk by picking up his glass of water and bringing it to his lips. Yukito was sitting right next to him and he didn't want to receive a punch if he was seen smirking.  
  
"Oh, that's o.k. I am actually used to getting much worse." Said Chiharu, amusement showing in her brown eyes. She noticed that the hot-headed boy hadn't responded to his sister's statement. Now there was a girl who had her brothers wrapped around her finger, if she ever saw one.  
  
"What can I get for you today?" she asked the small group, taking out a small notepad.  
  
"All right," said Yukito "I'll have 2 cheeseburgers, 3 chicken sandwiches, 2 extra large fries, and one large strawberry milkshake." He read off from the menu.  
  
"O.K. I got it." Said Chiharu. "I'll be right back with your order."  
  
She turned to walk away when she heard someone clear their throat from behind. She turned to find a furiously sweat-dropping Tomoyo and Yue with a hint of amusement in his eyes.  
  
"Umm, Chiharu." Said Tomoyo. "Shouldn't you take our orders too."  
  
"Huh." Chiharu was dumbfounded. "You mean this large order is just for..." she chuckled. "Well I'll be."  
  
"I'll take a chicken sandwich, hold the lettuce, with medium fries, and a strawberry milk shake, please" Tomoyo dictated her order.  
Chiharu jotted it down and turned towards Yue.  
  
"And for you sir?"  
  
"I'll just have a fruit salad." He said.  
  
Tomoyo gave him a pointed look.  
  
"All right, I'll also have a cheese burger and chocolate milk shake." He added.  
  
"That's much better." Tomoyo said fixing him a soft purple gaze.  
  
"O.K. folks, I'll be right back." And with that Chiharu took off.  
  
While Chiharu was gone, they decided to talk about what lay ahead of them,  
  
"O.K. guys" stated Yukito. "Today is Friday. Mom should be here by next Friday, Saturday at the most. And our new schools start following Monday. We have this week to set things in order because once school starts, I don't think we'll have much time to get things done."  
  
Yue and Tomoyo both nodded their heads in agreement. Yue got up off the chair.  
  
"Excuse me, I'll be right back. I need to go wash up."  
  
He left for the bathrooms located in the back of the restaurant.  
  
Since it was Friday, the place was very much crowded. Yue had to maneuver himself around the tables and the waitresses walking around with trays balanced in their arms.  
  
After he was done washing up, he came back out in the throng of people. Somehow, to him, the crowd seemed bigger. He started back towards his table, in the front of the fast food place. This time, he actually had to push himself between people to get ahead.  
  
'Geez, you'd think the whole world is starving by the looks of the place.' Yue thought to himself bemusedly.  
  
All of a sudden, he was pushed hard from the side, which caused him to whirl around and bump into a hard body, standing right behind him. The person must have been holding some kind of a drink because Yue felt wetness in front of his shirt. The person he had bumped into also had dripping front. Yue was just about to make an apology when he was suddenly grabbed by the front of his T-Shirt and he came face to face with a pair of intense blue eyes, peeking out from behind a messy bang of dark hair.  
  
"Hey pretty boy, why don't you watch where you're going." The person with the intense blue eyes asked Yue through clenched teeth.  
  
This sparked a sudden flash of fury to strike through Yue's entire body.  
  
"Hey" he said "I didn't do it on purpose. I was pushed from behind. Why don't you get your facts straight before you start shoving yourself on other people." Yue said in an icy tone.  
A sudden silence seemed to fall upon people, who were witnessing this event. It looked as though everyone was holding their breath to see what would happen next.  
  
The man still had his grip around Yue's neck. He pulled on his shirt and brought him closer to his face.  
  
"Be careful what you say around here pretty boy." He said threateningly, a dangerous spark flashed through his eyes. "This smart mouth of yours can get you into a lot of trouble." He was almost nose to nose with Yue.  
  
Yue now realized what kind of predicament he was in and became a little nervous. Although he would be able to defend himself if a combat arose, the person opposite, holding him in a death grip, looked like he could hold his own. He definitely had height at his favor, standing at 6'2", and the well toned muscles that protruded in his arms showed that the man was probably into weight lifting. He mentally patted himself in the back that none of his anxiety was showing on his face. His face had looked as icy and passive as ever, seeming like he doesn't care about the threat that's staring him in the face.  
  
"Is there a problem here, gentlemen?" said a voice from behind.  
  
'Oh Thank God.' Yue heaved a silent sigh of relief.  
  
He freed his shirt from the clutches of the man, who let him go by pushing him backwards a little, and turned towards Yukito.  
  
"Its o.k. Yuki, lets just go to our table."  
  
Yukito, however, wasn't looking at him. His intense hazel gaze was pinned on the man who had dared to put his hands on his brother. He was sizing him up silently daring him to make a move towards himself or Yue.  
  
"Hn" grunted the man. No, the boy. Now that he wasn't shoved in his face, Yue noticed that the guy was probably as old as Yuki.  
  
"No, there's no problem here." A female voice said from behind the guy. She stepped up in front of the boy, and Yue noticed how those two were dressed so similarly. They were both wearing jet black T-Shirts molded to their bodies tucked into tight, black leather pants. The girl had a pretty face, with very dark red eyes, and long red hair.  
  
"Come on Touya," she spoke to the boy behind her "This isn't worth your time." She said in a sneering tone.  
  
The boy gave one last hard look to Yue, and turned around towards the back of the restaurant, with this arm wrapped around the red-headed girl's shoulders.  
  
The slight up-turn of the boy's upper lip was the last thing Yue saw, before he too turned around and left with Yukito.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
TBC.  
Author's notes: O.O all of my pairings seem to meeting by bumping into each other. Huh, oh well. O.k. before anyone else points it out, I know that Touya's eyes are brown and not blue. But my Touya has blue eyes. Reason, you ask. Hmmm, simply because I like Touya with blue eyes, it makes him look a lot more sexier ^_^ *Bunny Chan starts drooling when she pictures Touya with his blue eyes fixed on Yue* Ummm, ahhheheheheh *furiously wipes drool from the key board* . Please review, and drop me a line about what you think so far. See ya all next time. 


	5. Chapter 5

Author's notes: First of all, I want to apologize for my stupidity. In the last chapter I   
spelled "Daidouji" wrong. _ Gomen nasai. Anyway, enjoy reading the new chapter ^_^.  
  
Disclaimer: Oh, why do we have to do this every time ~.~ Fine, they are not mine. They   
belong to Nelvana and Clamp.   
  
Warnings: Shounen ai, AU, language, sap, slight angst, humor.  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.  
  
Chapter 5.  
  
"What a stupid jerk!"  
  
Said Yukito as he sat down at the table. There was a hint of color spread over his cheeks. Yue had   
taken his seat on the other side.  
  
"What happened?" Inquired Tomoyo. "You just left to see where the waitress was, and you come back   
all huffing and puffing." There was a hint of worry in her voice.  
  
"Some asshole was trying to pick a fight with Yue." He answered.  
  
"What?!! Who?!" Tomoyo's voice raised a little.   
  
If there was one thing that was extremely frowned upon in their family was if one of them was picked on or bullied.   
And if that someone happened to be Yue, Tomoyo's temper matched that of Yukito's. Despite her gentle and calm   
nature, she usually displayed huge amount of anger if someone happened to pick on her brother.  
  
"Ah, it was just this guy. He thought he was a real tough guy with his leather outfit, showing off his muscles, thinking he   
could pick on Yue. I would have kicked his ass if Yue hadn't asked me to leave." Explained Yukito, giving a pointed   
look in Yue's direction.  
  
"Although I agree that you should have "kicked his ass", but I think it was better that you didn't." said Tomoyo. "I mean look,   
we just arrived here today and we don't know anyone. We don't want to start trouble with the inhabitants right away."   
She went on. "Plus, you didn't want to make a scene in the restaurant, did you?" She then turned towards Yue.  
  
"Are you o.k. brother?"   
  
"Yeah, I'm fine." Answered Yue. "As long as I have you two lunk-heads on my back."  
  
The truth was, Yue would easily have been able to defend himself, had this happened a year ago. The events in the time   
between then and now had caused not only emotional but also some psychological damage to Yue's system. He had been   
badly brutalized, before he was forced to take a knife to his best friend's chest. Ever since that horrid day, every time Yue   
had come face to face with a threat, he just froze up. It was as though he couldn't move a single muscle. He would completely   
withdraw into himself. This with drawl had caused him quite a few troubles in the past. Since he was unable to defend himself,   
he was picked on quite a few times in his old high school. And since Yukito wasn't always there to protect him, he had come   
home with bruises and black eyes a lot of times. His lack of self-defense had arisen extreme overprotective feelings in his siblings.  
  
And even just now, when that Touya person (is that what the girl had called him) had him in a grip, Yue couldn't do anything about it.   
All he could do was stare in his captor's eyes, while he was frozen to the spot. If Yuki hadn't come to bail him out, he probably   
wouldn't have been able to dodge the inevitable punch, that would've been thrown his way.  
  
"Hey space cadet, a penny for your thoughts?"  
  
Yue snapped out of his stupor and gave Tomoyo a small smile.   
  
"I was just thinking." He said to her.  
  
"About what?" Tomoyo asked.  
  
Since he didn't want to tell her what he was pondering over, he looked around to find something else to say. His eyes landed   
on Yukito who was looking around himself, slightly fidgeting in his seat.  
  
"Oh, I was just thinking what's taking our food so long to get here." He said to Tomoyo.  
  
At that moment, they spotted Chiharu headed for their table with two trays balanced in her arms. She was followed by another   
waitress who was also carrying two trays. Chiharu deposited the trays, piled high with food, in front of Yukito.  
  
"Yesss!!! Thank God!! Finally!!"   
  
Yukito dug happily into his food.  
  
The other girl had put the trays in front of Yue and Tomoyo. This girl had shoulder length wavy auburn hair and gentle brown eyes.   
She gave them a sweet smile.   
  
"Enjoy your food, Sirs, Madam." She said to them. "My name is Rika. If you need anything, just wave your hand and Chiharu   
or myself will be right there." And with that, they took off to serve other customers.  
  
Tomoyo and Yue also dug into their food with relish, since they too had been starved by now. In the midst of his gobbling down   
food, Yukito piped up.  
  
"So, as we were discussing before we were rudely interrupted by a stuck-up jerk. I say we start purchasing things we need   
as soon as possible. I want to get as much done as we can before school starts next week. It's a good thing Mom already   
enrolled us in Tomeda High, other wise that would've been another thing in our "To Do" list."  
  
It was amazing how Yukito could talk so much and eat at the same time. But this arduous task was no challenge when it   
came to Yukito.  
  
"Yeah, I also think it's a good idea that we start right away." Added Tomoyo. She was a bit apprehensive about the work that   
was laid out for her.  
  
"And Mom even asked me to decorate the place, and put everything in order." Tomoyo groaned softly. Then all of a sudden, her   
eyes lit up and she looked up at Yukito.  
  
"You know….."  
  
"No!!" said Yukito, interrupting her mid-sentence.  
  
"But you don't even know what I was going to say." Tomoyo said in a whiny tone.  
  
"Oh, I don't do I." said Yukito. "Hmm, lets see, you were just about to ask us to help you with all the decorating, weren't you?"   
he said taking a bite out of his last chicken sandwich.  
  
"But there's so much work that needs to be done." Said Tomoyo, whine factor had had gone an octave too high.  
  
"Oh, of course we'll help you Tomoyo." Yue said, taking a sip of he shake.  
  
"But….." Yukito started to say something.   
  
"We can't expect her to do all the work, now can we." Yue fixed a silver gaze on his brother. "Do you really want her to do all   
the heavy lifting. Well do you?"  
  
"Yeah, do you?" Tomoyo added.  
  
"Fine, whatever." Grumbled Yukito.  
  
Yue and Tomoyo gave each other a small smile and shared a high five under the table away from Yukito's eyes, over their victory.  
  
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*  
  
Their weekend was spent unpacking the boxes that they had brought with them. Tomoyo constantly gave them instructions over   
what should go where. Through Yukito's constant whining and complaining, they got a lot of work done. The sofas were now   
placed neatly in order around the living room. Most of the kitchen was now equipped with delicate China and Glass crockery.   
The plastic sheeting of the beds were now replaced with beautiful quilts, and soft fluffy pillows were placed on top. Tomoyo had   
decided to take the room on top of the stairs. Next was Yukito's room, then Yue's and at the end of the hall was their Mother's   
room. The bedrooms were still pretty empty save for the beds.  
  
All three of them had decided to hit the stores on the weekdays. They figured it might be a little less crowded and they would be   
able to purchase things without any hassle. They made a trip to the electronics store to purchase their big screen T .V., equipped   
with VCR and DVD player. They also put in an order for a large Sony stereo system, with a built-in CD player, with surround sound   
speakers. They also went and bought dressing tables for Tomoyo's and Sonomi's rooms. They purchased study tables for the boys'   
rooms. All of this stuff was to be delivered to their house the next day. They had made good use of their Mom's credit card.   
  
When their stuff had gotten there, they made good use of the delivery men. They asked them to put things in their respective places.   
The delivery men hadn't obliged at first, but they gave in once they got a load of Tomoyo's huge purple, pleading eyes. They were   
paid a hefty tip, which came from Yukito's pocket albeit grudgingly, for the extra labor. At the end of the long tiring day, Yukito, Yue   
and Tomoyo collapsed on the sofa in their now completely set-up living room. They all heaved huge sighs of relief.   
  
"Oh My God. I can't believe it." Exclaimed Tomoyo. "It was a lot of work. But we're finally done."  
  
"You said it Sis." Yukito said.  
  
Despite his uncooperative nature, Yukito had actually helped out a lot. He didn't complain "much" when Tomoyo couldn't decide what   
position would sofas look best in. They only moved it around 5 or 6 or 20 times. He hadn't even flinched when he was bringing in their   
huge glass tray, that their mother had insisted to bring with them, into the kitchen; only to have it drop on his foot when Tomoyo had   
banged open the door from the other side. He looked over the fact that he was good as electrocuted, when he was lying on the floor   
fixing the wiring on the stereo that was placed on the table for the time being, and Yue had tripped over his feet. Yukito and Yue had   
taken turns driving Tomoyo back and forth from the stores. And now the next day was their little sister's birthday.  
  
"So sis, what do you wanna do for your birthday tomorrow?" Yukito inquired of Tomoyo.  
  
"Oh no. My first birthday without Mom. That's not fair." Tomoyo said sadly.  
  
"Hey, don't count us out completely!" cried out Yukito.  
  
"Yeah Tomoyo, tell us what you want to do. I know it might be a little hard for you, seeing as how may have wanted a big party,   
it being your sweet sixteen and all. But with the circumstances we're in, we can't really do anything about it." Spoke up Yue.   
  
"Oh, I don't really care for a big party." Said Tomoyo. "Well, since we're new in town and don't know a lot of places to hang   
out yet, why don't we spend the day at the Mall." Tomoyo asked her brothers. "And you know, that will give you guys a chance   
to buy me presents."   
  
"Of course. Anything for our little Sis." Said Yue, giving her a soft smile.  
  
"All right!!" Tomoyo said grinning broadly, rubbing her hands. "Boys. Get ready to empty your pockets."  
  
"Oh Man!" groaned Yukito. "What is it with women and their spending habits!"  
  
He was promptly answered with a cushion to the face.  
  
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*  
  
The next morning, on Wednesday, the Daidouji household was awoken by the shrill sound of the telephone ringing.   
Tomoyo came running down the stairs, rubbing sleep form her eyes, still clad in her pajamas.  
  
'I've got to get an extension up in my room.' She thought to herself.   
  
Their new telephone was installed just a few days ago, she wondered who had their number already. She picked   
up the cradle.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Happy Birthday, Sweet-heart."  
  
"Mom! Hi. Thank you."  
  
"I wish I could've been there by today. But there is still some work left."  
  
"That's all right Mom, I understand."  
  
Sonomi than proceeded to ask how the set-up was going. Tomoyo filled her in on everything they had done.   
  
"This is all great to hear." Sonomi said at the end of the explanation. "I'll be there surely by Saturday. Tell Yukito that I'll   
be driving his car to Spring Valley, instead of taking the flight. I think taking a long drive will help me relieve some of the stress   
the hospital is putting me through." Sonomi said wearily.  
  
"Will do Mom. I m glad you'll be here soon. I miss you so much."  
  
"I miss you too, honey. All right Tomoyo, I've got to go now. Give your brothers my love. I'll see you all in a couple of days."  
  
"O.K bye Mom."  
  
She hung up the phone and turned around. As soon as she turned, she was tackled by Yukito and Yue who were charging at her   
quietly. They both bumped into her and all three of them fell on the sofa. Tomoyo and Yukito's laughter resounded through the house,   
along with Yue's soft chuckles.  
  
"Happy Birthday!!" Yukito and Yue said in unison.  
  
"Now tell us seriously Tomoyo." Piped up Yukito who had sat up straight. "How old did you turn today? 12? 13?"  
  
Tomoyo, who was still encircled in Yue's arms from behind, laughed again.  
  
"No, you dope-head, I'm 16."  
  
"What? No way!" screamed Yukito. "Come on Yue, let's start putting up the wards against gentlemen suitors who will be coming   
for our Tomoyo's hand. No one will be able to get past Yukito and Yue, the over-protective-and-somewhat-neurotic older brothers."  
  
Tomoyo was doubled-up in laughter by now. Behind her, Yue's body was shaking with silent laughter of his own. Yukito, too, collapsed   
on the sofa in a fit of laughter.  
  
All three of them had their breakfast, some of them took longer than the others, and got dressed to hit the mall.  
  
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*  
  
They spent their day just hanging out and browsing through different shops. They didn't purchase much, just contented themselves with   
becoming familiar with the Mall, and see which shops were located where.  
  
Yukito brought a huge stuffed teddy bear for Tomoyo. It was a large brown one, with a small red neck-tie, and large button eyes. Tomoyo   
fell in love with it immediately, and clutched it to her chest. Yue had bought her a small jewelry box, made of glass with small intricate   
flower patterns painted on the surface. It was beautifully made, and displayed soft music once opened. Tomoyo thanked her brother by   
giving him a huge, near bone-crushing, hug, and thanked him repeatedly. At Yukito's pouty face, she had then bestowed a similar hug on him.  
  
At the end of the day, they went to an ice-cream parlor, that was located on the first floor of the mall. Yue had decided to pay for their ice-creams.   
They gave their orders at the counter and stood aside to wait for them.   
  
"I wanted to do so much more for your birthday, Tomoyo." Yue spoke up. Yukito was still standing by the counter waiting for their ice-creams.   
"Why don't you tell me what else you want, and I'll get it for you."   
  
Tomoyo looked up at him with bright, shiny eyes.  
  
"I would like nothing more, for my birthday, then to have the old Yue back."  
  
Yue just looked at her for a long time. He then spoke up quietly.  
  
"Give him some time Tomoyo. He's still in here somewhere. I'm sure he'll be able to resurface someday."  
  
Tomoyo blinked away the tears that had welled up. She didn't want to worry Yukito, who was headed towards them with ice-creams.   
She gave Yue a huge watery smile and proceeded to enjoy her ice cream.  
  
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*  
  
TBC.  
  
Author's notes: Here's chapter 5. Hopefully you liked it, please review and tell me what you think.   
I am not trying to drag out the story, I am just having so much fun with it. I actually have so much   
stuff stored in my brain, and I hope you'll bear with me. All right, go on review, and I'll see you   
next time. Ja ne ^_^. 


	6. Chapter 6

Author's notes: Thanks so much for the lovely reviews. I really really need those to boost my ego -_-;.  
  
Disclaimer: Not mine. They belong to big companies like Nelvana and Clamp.  
  
Warnings: Shounen ai, AU, language, sap, slight angst ^_^;;  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
Chapter 6.  
  
On Saturday afternoon, while Daidouji family was enjoying a lunch of Pepperoni Pizza, they all heard the sounds of a car stopping in front of their gate.  
  
"Maria!" yelled out Yukito.  
  
"I can tell by the sounds she makes, that it's her."  
  
Tomoyo dropped her slice on the plate and ran outside. Entering through the front gates was one Sonomi Daidouji.  
  
"Mom! You're here."  
  
Tomoyo ran up to her and was immediately enveloped in a warm embrace.  
  
"Oh Thank God you're here. I missed you so much."  
  
Her voice was muffled, since her head was buried in the crook of Sonomi's neck.  
  
"Oh, Honey. I missed you so much too."  
  
Sonomi dropped a kiss on top of her daughter's head, and tightened the hug.  
  
"Aaheemmm! You know, the last time I checked we were your children too."  
  
Sonomi looked up at her sons. Yukito had a mock scowl on his face, while Yue had an amused smile on his.  
  
"My Boys!"  
  
Sonomi opened her arms wide. Both Yukito and Yue embraced her together, from each side. Sonomi kissed both their temples, and clutched them closer.  
  
"So, how much trouble have you two been in, so far?" Sonomi asked, once they separated.  
  
"Oh Mom, forget them." Tomoyo said, clutching her Mother's hand and dragging her inside. "Come on, see how the house looks."  
  
"O.k. O.k." Sonomi laughed softly over Tomoyo's enthusiasm.  
  
"Hey Yuki. Could you guys grab my luggage from the trunk? And don't forget to bring in the bag from the front seat." Sonomi called out over her shoulders, before she disappeared through the front door.  
  
Yukito, at the meantime was preoccupied. He was literally sprawled over the hood of the silver Cadillac, that his mother had driven in.  
  
"Oh Maria, how I missed you so. How have you been treated in my absence? I hope Mom has been taking good care of you."  
  
Yue was looking incredulously at his brother, from the side-walk. Who, at the moment, was getting re-acquainted with his beloved "Maria", and murmuring loving words to her.  
  
"Ummm Yuki, you do know that this is an inanimate object, right?"  
  
"How dare you? You've hurt her feelings. Apologize."  
  
Yue heaved a huge sigh and rubbed a hand over his eyes. He got in to the car through the passenger seat.  
  
"Come on Idiot. Lets take her inside."  
  
Yue called out to him and Yukito took his seat on the driver's side. He ran his hands loving over the wheel. It wasn't as if he was psychotically obsessed with his car. He just loved it too much. He had had this car for two years now and had taken really good care of it. He had been devastated when he had to leave it behind and drive his Mom's truck to the new place.  
  
They took the car in the garage and parked it next to the truck. They grabbed the stuff their Mom had asked when headed inside.  
  
Sonomi was sitting on the sofa, engaged in a conversation with Tomoyo. She was loving petting Jacky's head, who was panting slightly at her feet. He too was happy to see her.  
  
"There you guys are. Give me the bag." Sonomi said to Yue, who was holding a gift bag with patterns of flowers on it. He handed it to her.  
  
"Happy Birthday Sweet-heart!" Sonomi handed the bag to Tomoyo.  
  
"Thank you Mom."  
  
Tomoyo proceeded to open the bag and took out the wrapped-up box from inside. She unwrapped it and took out its contents.  
  
"Aaahhhh!! THANKS MOM!!"  
  
She screamed when she took out the object from the box. It was a brand new, hand-held Sony Video Camera (1).  
  
"I knew you'd like it." Said Sonomi smiling at her daughter's over enthusiasm.  
  
"So, what's been going on since you guys came here?"  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
The rest of their weekend was spent home, getting used to their new surroundings. Sonomi had made a quick trip to the hospital to let them know she'd arrived. She would be starting there on Monday, along with her children, starting their school.  
  
When Tomoyo went to bed on Sunday night, she couldn't help thinking about tomorrow. She pondered over what kind of people she will meet, and whether she will make new friends.  
  
'I wonder if I'll see Eriol Hiiragizawa at school tomorrow.' Was her last thought, before sleep claimed her.  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
"How much further is it? I didn't think it would take us this long to get there."  
  
Tomoyo inquired from the back seat of the car. Her back pack was lying right next to her. They were on their way to their new school.  
  
"We should be there any minute now. Ah, there it is. I see the building."  
  
With that, Yukito pulled the car in the huge parking lot of Tomeda High. They didn't see a lot of students, as was expected of high school. But then again, maybe it was because they had gotten there earlier than the time school regularly started.  
  
After Yukito had parked the car, all three of them exited with their back packs slung over their shoulders. Yukito was going to be a senior this year. Yue was a junior, and Tomoyo was sophomore. Their last school had already forwarded their transcripts, and they had gotten credits for courses they already completed.  
  
"First stop. Registrar's office."  
  
Yukito said and started towards the main entrance of the building. He was followed shortly by his siblings. After asking a security guard where it was located, they quickly found their way to the registrar. They entered the office and found a middle-aged woman sitting behind the desk. There were lots of papers scattered haphazardly on the desk.  
  
"Good Morning. May I help you?"  
  
She inquired of the three people standing there. She was wearing tortoise- shell glasses and her eyes appeared abnormally large from behind the specs.  
  
"Yeah Hi. My name is Yukito Daidouji. This is my brother Yue and my sister Tomoyo." Yukito stated. "This is our first time here, and we're here to pick up our schedules."  
  
"Oh yes. You're Dr. Daidouji's kids." She spoke up, smiling at them. "I remember. She had came in a month ago to register you guys. She's a surgeon right. I spoke with her about this pain I can't get rid off in my lower back. She said she'll check me out. Very nice woman your mother is."  
  
While speaking, she was rummaging through one of the cabinets marked A-D.  
  
"Aha, there you are."  
  
She pulled out three sheets of paper and held it out to them.  
  
"Here are your schedules. We looked at you transcripts and put you in classes most suited for you."  
  
"Thank you." Spoke up Tomoyo grabbing her schedule.  
  
"Yeah, thanks" Yue and Yukito mumbled their own gratitude.  
  
"All right children. Welcome to Tomeda High. Enjoy your first day." She said good naturedly.  
  
All three of them offered her a small smile and stepped out into the hallway.  
  
"Woah. A little high on caffeine, wasn't she?" Yuktio commented. "Well, lets see what classes they gave us."  
  
They all looked through their schedules.  
  
"Oh man. I've got Math first period. That sucks." Yukito was the first to complain.  
  
"Hey look, you and I have the same Math sections." Yue said looking at their program cards.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's cool." Yukito exclaimed.  
  
"Oh, but wait. They're the same section, but different periods. I have Math fourth period."  
  
Yue put a damper on Yukito's joy. Math had always been his weakest subject, but Yue had always excelled in it. He always required Yue's help when the exam time rolled around.  
  
The school bells finally rang and all three of them started towards their respective classes.  
  
"O.K. we'll meet by the car at the end of the day, o.k. guys?" Yukito said.  
  
Both Yue and Tomoyo nodded and disappeared in the throng of students.  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
Tomoyo walked into her fourth period of the day. She had an English class with Mr. Terada. So far, she had been to history, biology and math. Since it was the first day of school, teachers had spent the time introducing the course to the students and informing what was required of them.  
  
She walked into the quickly filling up class. She sought out a seat and found one empty, next to a boy who was furiously writing on his notebook.  
  
"Umm, excuse me. Is this seat taken?"  
  
Tomoyo asked the boy and he looked up. He had cornflower blonde hair and bright baby blue eyes. His face was rounded. It would be better to call him cute rather then handsome, for the innocent expression that was on his face. He gave her a huge smile and answered.  
  
"Of course not. Please sit down."  
  
Tomoyo hung her back pack on the back of the chair and sat down.  
  
"My name is Tomoyo Daidouji."  
  
She introduced herself and offered him her hand. He shook her hand amiably and turned slightly in her direction.  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kurogasa Tsukishiro (2). But my friends call me Kero."  
  
"Kero. That's a nice nick name." Tomoyo commented.  
  
"So, is this your first day here Tomoyo cuz I don't think I've seen you here before." Kero inquired.  
  
"Yeah. I just moved here recently with my family." She said.  
  
"So, first time here huh. Do you like our humble little town? Do you like the school? Did you make any friends yet?"  
  
Kero bombarded Tomoyo with questions. She looked at him, slightly wide- eyed, and smiled broadly.  
  
"You sound just like my brother. Anyway, I haven't really had a chance to go out and check out the town yet. You know, busy with readjusting and stuff. And as for making friends, I guess you're the first one I made today." Tomoyo explained.  
  
"And a good decision that was too." Kero said good naturedly. "Don't you worry about making friends. I practically know everyone around here. I'll introduce you to the crowd."  
  
Tomoyo was about to say something when Mr. Terada walked in the class. He opened up the register and started taking attendance.  
  
"Pssst, hey Tomoyo." Kero whispered. Tomoyo looked at him inquiringly.  
  
"What class do you have after this period?"  
  
Tomoyo took out her schedule and gave it a once over.  
  
"I've got gym next." She whispered back to him.  
  
"Oh yeah, that's cool. Me too!"  
  
In his excitement, Kero didn't realize his voice had gotten a little too loud. He looked around himself and found the whole class staring at him, including the teacher. He gave a nervous chuckle and slid down a little in his chair.  
  
"I see Mr. Tsukishiro hasn't changed much over the summer." Mr. Terada said shaking his head. The whole class tittered slightly. Tomoyo offered Kero a small smile, and focused her attention on the front of the class.  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
Yue was not having a good day. With his exceptional good looks and that silver-blonde mane of hair, he had become an amorous target for hormone- driven teenage girls. In the three classes, that he had attended so far, he had been on the receiving end of quite many appreciative looks. The attention that he was receiving from the female population, hadn't sat well with the male population of the school. They were throwing menacing and disdainful looks in his direction, which Yue was trying his best to ignore.  
  
Today, he had decided to wear his hair in a high pony tail, instead of gathering them at the nape of his neck. There were some bangs that covered his forehead. A few wild strands, which had escaped the confines of the pony tail, were framing his face. He was wearing tight blue-jeans and a short-sleeved, button down white shirt. The way he walked down the corridors of the school, with his graceful strides and long hair brushing against his shoulders and back, had sent many a girls swooning.  
  
Yue didn't like being in the center of attention at all. He noticed the way girls were arguing among themselves over who gets to sit next to him in class. The girls, whom had sat next to him, had tried their best to engage him in a conversation. Although he had given them cold stares and looks of indifference, the motivated girls hadn't backed down. They still tried to have a small talk. Yue ended up answering their mundane questions with small "Hns" and absent minded yes and no's, if only to shut them up.  
  
'Don't these girls know when to give up.' He had thought dismally. Their insane giggles, when he did speak to them, were driving him crazy.  
  
And now, as he walked into his fourth period Math class, he sent a silent prayer to heavens that the girls will not make a big deal and would leave him alone for the rest of the day.  
  
He entered the classroom and went towards the back of the class. Maybe if no one noticed him, he'll be left alone. He found a girl sitting quietly at the back of the room, bent over a book. When he approached, she looked up and gave him a small friendly smile. Yue didn't find any signs of flirtatiousness from this girl, so he sat down on the chair next to her.  
  
"Hi, my name is Mina Hayami." She introduced herself.  
  
"Nice to meet you. I'm Yue Daidouji." Yue politely returned her greeting.  
  
"First time in the school huh?" Mina said looking at him. At Yue's slightly surprised face, she chuckled softly.  
  
"Oh, don't look so surprised. I could tell easily. I've never seen you around before, because I certainly would've recalled seeing you."  
  
Yue gave her a blank look.  
  
"You stand out in the crowd." She said matter-of-factly. Yue slightly rolled his eyes at the comment.  
  
"You don't talk much, do you?"  
  
Mina asked, now fully turned in his direction.  
  
"I only speak when I feel it's necessary." Yue said coldly.  
  
"Oooh, we've got a quiet one here."  
  
Mina was not perturbed in the slightest by Yue's icy tone.  
  
By that time, their Math teacher had walked in. He was holding a bunch of papers in one arm and a cup of coffee in the other. He put his stuff down on the table and stood in front of the class.  
  
"Welcome back everyone. I hope you all had a nice summer." He started. "We have some new faces among us, along with the familiar ones. Let me introduce myself to those who are having me for the first time. I am Mr. Leonard and I will be teaching you pre-calculus this semester."  
  
Mina nudged Yue in the ribs with her elbow. When he looked at her, she made a small gag gesture by putting her index finger in her mouth, indicating her dislike for the subject. This action caused a small smile to spread over Yue's face, which quickly disappeared after a second or two.  
  
He liked Mina. He knew he did. She hadn't treated him like an object of affection. Rather, her actions had been very cordial. He knew he would find a good friend in her. One, who wouldn't look at him with a lustful expression, but one with whom he would be able to have nice conversations with. He looked back towards the front of the class where Mr. Leonard had started speaking again.  
  
"I don't want you guys to be scared when you hear the word pre-calculus. It's actually not a difficult subject, once you get a hang of it. What we'll be doing this semester.."  
  
Mr. Leonard's speech was interrupted by the opening of the doors. Two individuals walked in hand in hand, with the girl of the two laughing loudly. The teacher sighed heavily and greeted the students who had just entered.  
  
"Welcome back Mr. Kinomoto, Miss Aikzuki. Please take your seats."  
  
"Hiya teach. Nice to be back." The girl popped her gum loudly in the teacher's direction and walked towards the back of the class holding the boy's hand.  
  
Yue had been shocked to see who had entered. It was those two people that he had a small encounter with at the restaurant, over a week ago. Yue had cursed his luck that he had to share this class with these conceited jerks. He hoped that the boy had forgotten about him, and would leave him alone. He hadn't wanted trouble that time, and he certainly didn't want any trouble now.  
  
He noticed those two walking in his direction, towards the back. They were dressed in the same fashion, he had seen them a week ago. The boy was wearing tight leather pants and black form-fitting tee shirt. The girl had exchanged her leather pants with a short leather mini-skirt, and was wearing a black tank top.  
  
In his musings, Yue didn't realize that he had been staring at Touya Kinomoto, absent-mindedly. He became aware of his surroundings when his silver gaze fell into bright blue one. Touya was looking directly at him, piercing him with his eyes. Yue's eyes widened slightly and he turned his eyes away.  
  
Touya Kinomoto took the seat directly behind Yue and sat down. Yue only hoped he wouldn't encounter any trouble and kept himself from turning head around to glance at him. He continued to stare straight ahead and listened to Mr. Leonard introducing the subject further.  
  
He was fully aware of the pair of eyes that bore holes in his head throughout the length of the entire period.  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
The bell finally rang indicating the end of class. Yue heaved a silent sigh of relief. By now, he had become very nervous of Kinomoto's stares in his direction, and just wanted to get away from him. He gathered up his things and stood up to leave, when he was suddenly bumped and pushed into his desk by a shoulder, from behind.  
  
"Oops. Pardon me, Pretty boy."  
  
These words, that came from Touya Kinomoto's mouth, were said sneeringly with a slight sarcastic tone. All Yue could do was stare apprehensively into his retreating back. He also didn't fail to notice the teasing smirk that the red-haired girl had thrown his way.  
  
"It would be in your best interest if you just ignore it."  
  
Yue turned around and looked at Mina. Both of them started towards the door.  
  
"That guy, Touya Kinomoto, is bad news. Believe me, you don't want to get involved with him, and you certainly don't want him on your case." Mina said, while they stepped out of the class. Yue had yet to make a comment. He listened to her quietly.  
  
"Well, this is where I leave you. I've got to get to my next class. See you around Yue."  
  
She waved to him and took off.  
  
"See you later, Mina." Yue called after her and walked towards his next class, which happened to be gym.  
  
Since it was the first day of school, students weren't obligated to change into sweats and shorts. So, Yue just went through the gym doors and walked towards the bleachers to sit down. He was pleasantly surprised to find Tomoyo sitting there, chatting with a blonde guy. Tomoyo had spotted him and was waving her hand, beckoning him over. He walked over to them, and sat down.  
  
"Hey Yue. Nice to see you here." Said Tomoyo. "Yue, this is Kero Tsukishiro, my new friend. Kero, this is one of my older brothers, Yue." Tomoyo made the introductions. Kero and Yue shook hands amiably.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Yue. Tomoyo has been talking about nothing but her family, and it feels as though I know you already. I have yet to meet Yukito, but I'm pretty sure we'll hit it off just fine."  
  
At Yue's slightly widened eyes, Tomoyo couldn't help but laugh.  
  
"Kinda reminds you of someone we know, doesn't he?"  
  
Yue gave her a small grin.  
  
"Well you guys, since this is your first time in school and all, I feel it's my obligatory duty to fill you in about everyone here." Kero started talking again. The three of them were sitting in the corners of the bleachers, with Tomoyo and Kero on the bottom bench, and Yue on the one above them. From there, they had the entire view of the gym.  
  
"Why don't I tell you about the crowd I hang out with. They're great people and wonderful friends." Kero sat up straight, since he was leaning against the upper bench, and looked around they gym. He pointed towards one side of the gym, where a few cheerleaders were doing some exercises.  
  
"You see there. That cheerleader with short brown hair with two small pony tails on the sides of her head. That's Sakura. She's my best friend. She is really sweet and cheerful, and so full of energy." Kero said pointing in the cheerleader's direction. "You'll make real good friends with her Tomoyo. You see that other cheerleader Sakura is talking with right now, that's ..."  
  
"Chiharu." Tomoyo said, interrupting Kero. He gave her a surprised look.  
  
"You know Chiharu Mihara? I didn't know."  
  
"Oh no, we only just met her a week ago. She was our waitress at the fast food restaurant." Tomoyo explained.  
  
"Ohhh, o.k. Yeah, she works there part-time. She's a very nice girl, although a little high strung. You would mostly see her hunting down her boy friend and bearing down on him, hard." Tomoyo gave him a questioning look.  
  
"Oh you see, her boyfriend is Takashi Yamazaki. He's a fun guy to hang out with. He's always making up stories about places and where things originated from. This making stuff up doesn't sit well with his girlfriend, so she tries to stop him every chance she gets. Actually, there he is right now."  
  
Kero pointed towards the basketball court, where a few guys were standing, passing around a basketball. The guy Kero had pointed towards had short brown hair, and was talking rapidly with his group.  
  
While they were watching, they noticed Chiharu leave her cheerleaders' circle and walked towards the basketball court. She approached Takashi and punched him on the side of his head, without saying a single word, and walked back to continue her exercises. Takashi had immediately quieted down and now had a sheepish smile on his face.  
  
"Scary isn't it." Kero spoke up. "It's like Chiharu has a fib radar implanted on her and can always tell when he's making something up."  
  
Tomoyo gave a small chortle.  
  
"You know, if you knew Chiharu, then you might also know Rika." Kero asked Tomoyo.  
  
"Uh yeah. I only met her when she brought in our food." Said Tomoyo.  
  
"Rika is a very sweet girl, with a very gentle spirit. No one has ever seen her raise her voice or get in any argument with anyone. She is very smart, and is actually in the Book Club. She also managed to trick me into joining that club with her."  
  
"How did she trick you?" Yue spoke up this time. He had been listening quietly to their conversation up until now.  
  
"Uhhhh, she asked me." Kero was sweat-dropping.  
  
Tomoyo and Yue gave him blank looks.  
  
"Oh, don't get me wrong. It's the way she asked. She looked at me with huge brown eyes and asked if I would be interested in joining the Book Club. I don't know why, but for some reason I couldn't say no." Kero explained.  
  
"Oh, I know what you're talking about Kero." Yue spoke up again. "We also know a certain someone who gets her way by using her huge, purple eyes."  
  
Tomoyo threw a wide grin in Yue's direction, who in turn pulled slightly on her pony tail.  
  
By now, it looked like the cheerleading practice was over. Because Sakura was walking in their direction.  
  
"Hiii Kero!!"  
  
Sakura greeted her friend loudly and enveloped him in a hug.  
  
"Oomph Sakura, hi to you too." Kero spoke once she released him.  
  
"Sakura, meet Tomoyo and Yue. They just moved here recently in our town."  
  
Sakura gave them a huge cheery smile, and shook hands with both of them.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you." She said politely.  
  
"Nice to meet you too." Tomoyo returned amiably.  
  
"I'm pretty sure we'll make good friends. Hey Tomoyo, Yue, would you guys like to hang out with us sometimes?" Sakura asked them.  
  
"Oh yeah, I'd love to." Tomoyo said grinning broadly. Yue had kept to himself.  
  
"O.K. cool." Sakura said, and looked at her watch.  
  
"Listen guys, I'd love to stay and chat but I've got to go meet Syaoran. He's waiting for me by the soccer field." She said to the small group and stood up. "See ya around. Bye guys." She waved and took off.  
  
Tomoyo knew immediately that she would befriend Sakura easily. That girl had a very sweet, outgoing disposition. The way she had immediately warmed up to the strangers, was a trait that Sakura shared with Tomoyo. Both of these girls had no problem when it came to making new friends.  
  
A sudden commotion on the other end of the gym, caught their attention. All three of them looked that way and saw a small group, surrounding one boy. The said boy was pinned against the wall, by a tall figure clad in black. That person had immediately caught Yue's direction, for it was no other than Touya. He had the boy grabbed by his throat and was pushing him up against the wall. The boy was so far up that only his toes seemed to be touching the floor. The red-haired girl, as always, was by his side. But now, she was joined by another boy and girl. The boy had shoulder-length, slicked back blonde hair, and was slightly shorter in height, compared to Touya. The girl had jet black hair pulled up tightly in a pony tail. Both of them were also wearing tight leather pants and black t-shirts.  
  
They seemed to be egging Touya on, for they were laughing and taunting the boy in his grasp. Touya had pulled back his fist to strike a blow, when the coach walked in and separated them. The boy had fallen on his back when Touya released him. But he quickly got to his feet and scrambled out of the gym.  
  
Yue hadn't missed a single moment of this event. He turned towards Kero, who was also observing this closely.  
  
"Hey Kero, who are those guys?"  
  
Kero heaved a heavy sigh.  
  
"That would be the trouble." He said. "You saw the guy who was pinning the poor schmuck to wall, that was Touya Kinomoto. He is the leader of the gang. They like to call themselves "Black Angels"."  
  
"Well, I'm not surprised by that name." Tomoyo said, observing their outfits and the color scheme that ran through them.  
  
"You see that red-headed girl with him. That's Touya's girlfriend, Nakuru Akizuki. That is one mean, cold-hearted bitch that you want to stay away from." Kero said and looked sheepishly at Tomoyo. "Pardon my French."  
  
"You see that blondie standing next to Touya. That's Akira Watari. He likes to pretend he's a tough guy, but he stands in Touya's shadow and just backs him up. I've never seen him take initiative in a fight. And the girl with the black hair, who looks like she swallowed something nasty, is Fumi Hamada. She's Akira's girlfriend and Nakuru's best friend, so obviously, she's a member of the gang." Kero gave them a lengthy explanation.  
  
Yue had been listening intently to every word Kero said. 'Black Angels, huh' he mused. 'Must be real trouble-makers.' He noticed the way the other students in gym were giving them at least 15' of space.  
  
Touya's attention at the moment was drawn towards his group. Which gave Yue a chance to observe him freely. He saw him closely and took in everything. Touya was the tallest in his group. He had a very handsome face with large intelligent eyes and incredibly sharp features, from a pert nose to the pointed chin. He had very black hair, some of which fell over his eyes. He had a slim but powerful figure, with his broad chest and narrow waist. Yue wondered absent-mindedly if there were six-pack abs concealed behind that black T-shirt. He quickly shook that thought away and reprimanded himself for thinking such absurd things. He went back to his observation of Touya. He noticed that the leather pants that he was wearing, seemed to be molded into his incredibly long legs, topped off with black buckled boots. Yue brought his eyes back up and was startled to see that Touya was looking back at him intently, from across the gym. Yue was unable to break eye-contact with him. Touya's eyes which were boring into his own, seemed to go deep within his soul. Yue shivered involuntarily, and broke away from his intense gaze.  
  
"Do they pick on students all the time?"  
  
Yue snapped back to himself when Tomoyo spoke to Kero.  
  
"Oh no, not always. They usually just leave us alone, unless someone starts something with them. It's the football team you have to look out for. They seem to think they're God's gift to this school. Always picking on innocent students like us, for no apparent reason."  
  
"Do my ears deceive me? I know you just didn't refer to yourself as innocent, did you now?"  
  
A new voice piped up from the side. They turned their heads and looked at the new comer. It was a boy, about Kero's height. He had very dark blue hair, and ice blue eyes. He had an amused expression on his face. Tomoyo couldn't help but think that this boy looked familiar to her, somehow.  
  
"Buzz off you!" Kero said dismissively.  
  
"Hey now. Is that the way to talk to your classmate, specially one who is better than you and surpasses you in everything."  
  
Yue and Tomoyo were sweat-dropping furiously, by now. Kero face had gone red, and he seemed to be steaming.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
He then turned towards Tomoyo, and introduced them to the new boy.  
  
"This is Tomoyo and Yue Daidouji. It's their first time in this school, so try to be a little nice in front of them." He reprimanded the boy.  
  
"You guys, this arrogant bastard is Shuichi Hiiragizawa."  
  
The boy turned towards them with a genuine friendly smile and said.  
  
"Please, call me Suppi."  
  
.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~  
  
TBC.  
  
1.I couldn't help myself.  
  
2. I couldn't think of a name that could be shortened to make Kero, so I borrowed one from Rurouni Kenshin. Kurogasa is one of the villains in that show. Oh, and I also gave Kero Yukito's last name, since he won't be using it in this fic ^_^.  
  
Woah!! Another one done. Please don't forget to review and let me know what I'm doing wrong. Till next time, Ja ne ^_^. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7.  
  
"Suppi?! That's a very peculiar nick name."  
  
Tomoyo commented a few moments later. Then something in her brain  
clicked and made a connection. "Wait a minute. Did you say  
Hiiragizawa?"  
  
"Ahh, so I see we have another one of my brother's fans here." Suppi  
said teasingly, while Kero and Yue looked at her pointedly.  
  
Tomoyo felt a sudden flush quickly spreading over her features.  
  
"You mean Eriol. I only met him once outside my house the day I moved  
in. I'm not one of his 'fans', I just remembered the last name, that's  
all." Tomoyo said a little hotly.  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to imply anything. I was only joking." Suppi  
sounded truly apologetic.  
  
It wasn't Tomoyo's nature to stay angry at someone for a long time so  
therefore she offered him a friendly smile.  
  
"That's o.k."  
  
At that moment, the school bell rang.  
  
"Well, I'm off to lunch now. It was nice meeting you folks. Later."  
Suppi waved and started to take off.  
  
"Hey wait up, Hiiragizawa, we've got lunch too." Kero called out to him.  
He and Tomoyo both stood up and started towards the exit.  
  
After one last fleeting glance in Touya's direction, Yue also stood up  
and followed Tomoyo and Kero towards the exit.  
  
*=*=*  
  
After grabbing their lunches from the counter, Yue, Tomoyo, Kero and  
Suppi sat down at a table near the end of cafeteria. Yue noticed, as he  
sat down, that they were joined by more people. Some of whom he'd  
already seen in the gym, and a few new faces.  
  
"Hi Sakura." Tomoyo greeted the cheerful girl, when she sat down.  
  
"Hey Tomoyo. I see you've met Suppi, Kero's arch nemesis." Sakura said  
smiling, and winking in Kero's direction.  
  
Tomoyo gave a small chortle.  
  
"Let me introduce you to the love of my life. This is Syaoran Li." Said  
Sakura, pulling on the arm of a handsome young man with unruly brown hair  
and bright amber eyes.  
  
He offered a small smile to Tomoyo.  
  
"Syaoran, this is my new friend Tomoyo."  
  
"Your new friend!"  
  
Sakura ignored Kero and continued with the introduction.  
  
"And this is Yue. He's Tomoyo's big brother."  
  
Syaoran nodded his head in greeting towards Yue, who answered with a  
slight nod of his own.  
  
"Well, I guess most of the introductions have been made. Right?" Kero  
asked the general audience. "Oh hey guys." He greeted Chiharu and  
Yamazaki as they sat down on the table with trays of their own. More  
hands were shook, and more introductions were made. Soon, everyone was  
enjoying their meals talking with their new friends. Most of them doing  
more talking then others. They asked each other about what kind of  
activities they liked, what was their favorite sports team and what kind  
of movies they liked to watch. After a few moments, they were joined by  
a quiet girl with large expressive brown eyes, known as Rika Sasaki. She  
had remembered Tomoyo and her brother from the restaurant. Soon there  
was laughter emanating from this particular table. Tomoyo was especially  
having fun watching Suppi and Kero have a pudding eating contest. A few  
of their friends had donated their own pudding cups for the sake of the  
contest. Now both of them had three pudding cups each in front of them  
and were actively engaged in shoveling them down.  
  
"Go Kero go, you can do it!!"  
  
"Go Suppi, show him what you got!!"  
  
Tomoyo, along with Sakura, was cheering for Kero. Whereas Chiharu and  
Yamazaki were screaming for Suppi. Tomoyo and Sakura were laughing so  
hard at their antics, tears were rolling down their cheeks. Syaoran and  
Yue were looking on with softened eyes at the highly amused girls.  
  
"Oh, ha ha ha ha, I can't take it anymore."  
  
Tomoyo said clutching her sides. But one look at Kero, with pudding  
covering the lower half of his face glaring menacingly at Suppi, sent her  
into another gale of laughter.  
  
"Tomoyo Daidouji."  
  
She stopped laughing when she heard her name and looked up. It was  
Eriol. He was standing there with his backpack slung over his shoulder,  
a food tray in his arms, and his glasses perched on his nose. Tomoyo  
felt a slight blush spreading over her features. Why she felt her heart  
doing somersaults around this guy, she didn't know. She gave him a small  
smile. Eriol smiled in return and sat down, across from Rika. They both  
smiled at each other and offered their greetings.  
  
"Yes!!!"  
  
A loud yell from the side drew everyone's attention. It seemed that the  
competition was over. Suppi was grinning broadly waving his empty cup  
around, while Kero was looking on disbelievingly still in the middle of  
his third cup.  
  
"When are you gonna learn, Kero, I am better than you at everything."  
Suppi asked smugly. He had managed to keep himself clean and devoid of  
any pudding particles. Whereas Kero was a mess.  
  
"Oh yeah, you think you're so cool." Kero cried indignantly. "This  
isn't over Hiiragizawa. I want a rematch." Kero said pounding his fist  
on the table. He was answered with a napkin to the face, which came from  
Suppi.  
  
"Clean yourself up. You're worse than a four year old."  
  
Suppi said dismissingly, which left Kero sputtering.  
  
"Why you.."  
  
"So Tomoyo, how do you like our school so far?"  
  
Leaving those two at their own devices, Eriol turned towards Tomoyo.  
  
"Oh the school is fine. I just can't believe I've met so many wonderful  
people and have already made friends." Tomoyo said smiling.  
  
"Well, I'm glad." Eriol said with a smile of his own.  
  
"And you Mr. Daidouji. I hope you're having a good first day." Eriol  
asked politely of the quiet boy. Yue turned his eyes towards him.  
  
"Yue would be just fine. The school seems o.k." He answered the  
inquiring boy. 'With the exception of a few people.' He added quietly  
to himself, thinking about Touya and his girlfriend.  
  
Eriol smiled and nodded his head.  
  
A few moments later the bell rang indicating the end of lunch. All the  
new and old friends stood up to go to their respective classes. Some of  
them high fived, and some waved and smiled at each other. Promising to  
meet after school, they all took off in different directions in the  
hallway.  
  
*=*=*  
  
Touya Kinomoto was not having a good day. As he walked towards his final  
class of the day, he contemplated today's events and thought over the  
conversation that he'd had in the cafeteria.  
  
When he had walked into the class this morning, he had not expected to  
see that boy there. Ever since that encounter in the restaurant, a  
little over a week ago, Touya had not been able to get that boy out of  
his head. He was the first guy to stand up to him in a long time. At  
first Touya had thought that he had succeeded in scaring the boy out of  
his wits, but one look into his eyes had rectified his belief. His eyes,  
the color of bright silver, were glaring right back into his with a look  
of defiance. He hadn't backed down, nor had he shown any offense. There  
was a cold indifference on his face that Touya couldn't get out of his  
head.  
  
'How dare he?' He had thought. 'He should be scared out of his mind  
right now. How could he look at me like I'm no threat to him?'  
  
All throughout the week, Touya had thought and thought over about that  
boy and his icy demeanor. He had never felt this strong surge of emotion  
for anyone, ever before.  
  
He had been a little shocked to find that boy, sitting in his class. He  
had kept his eyes on him throughout the period, hoping he would get  
agitated and turn around and give some sort of reaction. But Yue had  
shown strong persistence. He hadn't turned around once. He didn't even  
show any signs of annoyance when Nakuru bumped into him, sending him into  
the desk. Even she had failed in getting a rise out of that boy. And  
usually she didn't even had to try very hard. People found her  
irritating very easily.  
  
In the gym, when he had felt someone's eyes on him, he had looked up and  
found that same boy, who had been occupying his thoughts recently,  
sliding his gaze over his body. Touya had felt a slight tingle go  
throughout his body and felt a strong surge of emotions that he couldn't  
explain. 'What is that guy doing to me?' He had thought silently and  
fixed his own eyes right into his. He established and kept the eye  
contact, until that boy turned his gaze away. Touya, through eye  
contact, wanted to let him know that he knows he's there, and that he's  
got his eyes on him. He had tried to appear as menacing as possible,  
which wasn't very hard. His whole personality spoke danger. Someone you  
should stay away from.  
  
In the lunch period, he had sat at his usual table with his gang, at the  
very last table near the exit. Nakuru had sat down besides him and Fumi  
and Akira across from them. Nakuru had immediately attached herself to  
Touya's arm, when she sat down. Touya rolled his eyes at that and looked  
around in the cafeteria, ignoring her.  
  
It wasn't as if he hated Nakuru, but it also wasn't the case that he was  
in love with her. When had Nakuru became his girlfriend, he couldn't  
recall. It must've been in Junior High School. Nakuru was always  
screaming his name, every time she saw him, and would jump and latch  
herself on to him. No matter how much he tried to avoid her, and ran  
away to hide every time he saw her, she always caught up to him. After a  
while, he had stopped trying. And when they entered High School and  
Touya started the gang, Nakuru was automatically pronounced his  
girlfriend. Touya hadn't said anything to remedy that fact and let  
people (and Nakuru) believe whatever they wanted to. He had never gone  
all the way with Nakuru. All they did together was kiss and hold hands.  
Well, it was more like Nakuru trying to eat Touya's face and latching  
herself on to his arm (Bunny Chan: ewwww gross!!!).  
  
Touya continued to look around the cafeteria when Nakuru's voice brought  
him out of his reverie.  
  
"Ugh, there he is again."  
  
Nakuru was looking at the table, a few down from their own.  
  
"Who are you talking about?" asked Fumi looking over her shoulders.  
  
"You know, the pathetic little sissy boy who had the nerve to stand up to  
my Touya."  
  
Touya, along with Fumi, looked over at that table. That boy was sitting  
there with that blonde guy his sister always hung out with. Fumi turned  
around with a mischievous smile and a twinkle in her eyes.  
  
"Girl, I don't know what you're talking about. He looks pretty hot stuff  
to me."  
  
Nakuru gave a disgusted snort, while Akira gave a growl and placed his  
arm around her waist possessively and pulled her towards him.  
  
"Oh honey, you have nothing to worry about. I'm not leaving you."  
  
Fumi reassured her amorous boyfriend.  
  
"But if I ever did leave you, it would be for that guy. Woah Mama, look  
at that hunk of flesh." Fumi continued, fanning her face.  
  
"I don't know what about him you find attractive Fumi." Said Nakuru. "I  
mean look at him. What is up with all that hair? And that physique, he  
is skinnier than most girls around here." At his point, a hint of  
jealousy could be heard in Nakuru's voice. "And look at his cold,  
expressionless face. Seems as if he's got a serious grudge against the  
world, but doesn't want to show it. Brrrr, his whole personality seems  
cold." Nakuru gave a mock shiver.  
  
While she was giving a thorough explanation of Yue, Touya was checking  
him out from behind his bangs.  
  
'Hmm, lets see. Hair, too long?' Touya thought to himself and looked at  
his hair. He had them tied up in a high pony tail. The long silver-  
blonde waves were cascading down his back and brushing his shoulders.  
Some wild strands kept falling over his face and were grazing his cheeks,  
which he kept pushing back with his hand. Touya felt his hand twitch, as  
if his appendage wanted to take over the job of brushing back those silky  
strands.  
  
Yue's physique was slender, but there was nothing girl-like about it. He  
seemed to be carrying himself very well.  
  
Nakuru had pointed out the same thing that he'd noticed a week ago. A  
lack of emotion. What happened to this boy that has made him so cold and  
indifferent to the world? Touya thought silently to himself. He shook  
his thoughts away and concentrated on the conversation between Nakuru and  
Hamada.  
  
"I know he looks like he's got a serious attitude problem. But doesn't  
that make him look more attractive." Fumi was saying.  
  
"Well, I didn't know that moody people were your type." Nakuru said  
sneeringly.  
  
"They're not. But I wouldn't mind having a roll around the bed a few  
times with that guy." Fumi said in a lecherous way.  
  
Touya felt like kicking his foot out and hitting Hamada in the shin. For  
some reason, he was not liking the way this conversation was headed.  
  
"All I'm saying is that you couldn't get him even if you tried." Said  
Nakuru.  
  
"What?!! And you think you would have a better chance at him?" cried  
out Fumi.  
  
"Hunh. I could get him if I tried. But I told you I don't even like  
him."  
  
All of a sudden, Fumi's eyes lit up. She pushed her cuddling boyfriend  
away and leaned over the table, closer to Nakuru.  
  
"Oh Yeah, why don't we make a wager on that?" she said smiling widely.  
  
Nakuru furrowed her brows and looked at her suspiciously.  
  
"What do you mean? What kind of wager?"  
  
"Well, why don't we try and see if one of us can make him their  
boyfriend. You know, go on and pursue him and drag him out of whatever  
angst-ridden drama he has gotten himself into, and make him fall in love  
with them. See if one of us is capable enough to do that."  
  
Fumi had a huge smile on her face. She had given no second thought to  
the fact that this was a human being they were making a wager on. That  
this was his heart and his emotions they were planning on playing with.  
  
"So what do you say?" Fumi asked of her best friend.  
  
"Hmm, sounds interesting. What's the wager?"  
  
Fumi shrugged her shoulders.  
  
"50 dollars from the rest of the gang."  
  
Nakuru looked over at Yue and back at Fumi.  
  
"Looks like its going to be a lot of work. Make that 100 dollars and  
you've got yourself a deal." Said Nakuru.  
  
"O.K 100 dollars it is. Now, which one of us is going to do the deed?"  
  
Nakuru and Fumi looked at each other.  
  
"I'll do it."  
  
Akira, Fumi and Nakuru turned wide, disbelieving eyes in Touya's  
direction.  
  
Touya was surprised with himself for volunteering. What had made him  
speak out, he couldn't explain. All he knew was that the thought of what  
these two girls were planning didn't sit well with him. Plus, the  
thought of the perverse Hamada laying her paws on Yue really made him  
sick.  
  
"Touya No!!" cried out Nakuru.  
  
"You can't do it. You're my boyfriend. Plus you don't even like boys."  
  
'Yeah well I don't like you either, but that didn't stop you, now did  
it.' Touya kept that thought to himself.  
  
"Nakuru, it's o.k" Touya said in a soothing manner. "It's all going to  
be pretend. And plus me being a boy would make the chasing all the more  
fun and interesting, right?"  
  
Touya could care less if he had Nakuru's support or not. He still had to  
put on the act, for his gang's sake. They had come to expect them to  
always be together. Plus Touya had always thought that finding a  
girlfriend would be too much of a hassle.  
  
Nakuru was thinking about pros and cons of Touya pursuing Yue.  
  
"I think it's an excellent idea." Said Fumi smiling lecherously in  
Touya's direction. "I think you and pretty boy over there would make a  
very hot couple."  
  
Nakuru opened her mouth to reject that notion but Touya interrupted her  
before she could speak.  
  
"All right then, its all settled." He said.  
  
"But how long does he have? I mean we can't wait until the end of school  
year. There had to be a dead line." Akira spoke in a long time.  
  
Touya looked questionably at his group.  
  
"How about..until the ski trip in January?" Fumi offered.  
  
"What?!! But that only gives me four months." Touya cried out.  
  
"So? Prove to us that you can do it." Said Fumi smiling rakishly. "Or  
are you saying that you can't do it? Cuz if you wanna back out, I'll  
happily take over." She said in a challenging tone.  
  
"No, that's fine." Touya said looking directly into her eyes. "Come  
this ski trip, I will make him mine." There was a fierce determination  
in his eyes.  
  
"All right!!" said Akira.  
  
They all put their hands on top of each other as the agreement to this  
cruel game of love.  
  
Now, as Touya made his way towards the last class, he pondered over what  
he had gotten himself into. Why had he agreed to do something like this?  
All he knew was that that boy was starting to stir some very strong  
unexplainable emotions in him, that he didn't particularly liked. He  
wanted to prove to himself that that boy had no affect on him whatsoever.  
And the only emotions he felt towards him were of anger and hatred over  
his indifference towards Touya.  
  
'I guess it'll be fun to break down his cold mask and watch him crumble.  
Then I'll just have myself a good laugh at his naiveté and be on my way.'  
Touya thought cruelly to himself and stepped into the class.  
  
*=*=*  
  
Yue stifled a huge yawn as he walked in the last class of the day. Since  
it was the first day after summer vacation, the day had felt longer than  
usual. And the fact that this class happened to be History, didn't help  
matters much either.  
  
Yue looked around and sat down on a seat towards the front. He didn't  
want to take any chances. If that Touya person was in this class too,  
then he'll surely sit in the back.  
  
Yue took out his notebook and pen and got ready to receive the lesson, or  
at least the introduction of the subject. He was idly tapping his pen on  
the notebook when the front door opened. Expecting it to be the teacher,  
Yue sat up straight in his seat, and then nearly fell off. It was Touya  
Kinomoto. Walking in the class before the class had even started. But  
there was something missing. Yue looked closely at him and noticed the  
lack of the 'red thing' hanging off his arm. He noticed him looking  
around in the classroom. 'Oh please don't let him notice me, oh please  
don't let him notice me.' Yue repeated this litany over and over in his  
head.  
  
His prayers went unanswered when Touya's eyes rested on him and he  
started walking in his direction.  
  
Yue braced himself against the shove that Touya would send his way,  
before going to the back of the class. He choked back on the startled  
gasp that nearly escaped his lips when Touya, instead of passing by,  
pulled out the chair right next to him and dropped his large self on the  
seat.  
  
Yue kept looking straight ahead. His heart was beating rapidly and felt  
as though it would burst out of his rib cage. He took a couple of deep  
breaths and calmed himself down.  
  
'It's o.k. there is nothing to worry about. He wouldn't try anything in  
public.' Yue silently reassured himself and then thought over the  
occurrence in gym. 'I hope.'  
  
Yue was slightly startled when he heard Touya clear his throat. Yue  
continued to ignore him. When Touya cleared his throat a second time, a  
little louder, Yue turned his head in his direction and looked him in the  
eye.  
  
For a few seconds, all he could do was look at him. Up close, the blue  
irises of Touya's eyes were much clearer. There was a certain spark in  
his eyes that Yue couldn't tear himself away from.  
  
When not receiving a response, Yue raised his eyebrows in a silent  
question. Touya sat up straight and turned towards him.  
  
"Can I borrow a pen and a paper? I didn't bring my book bag today."  
  
Yue kept his eyes on him for a few more seconds. He then proceeded to  
rip out a page from his notebook and handed it over with his pen. He  
took out another pen from his bag and went back to staring straight  
ahead.  
  
Touya turned his whole body in Yue's direction.  
  
"Look, I think we got off on the wrong foot."  
  
'You think' Yue thought sarcastically and looked at him with narrowed  
eyes.  
  
"I know I was being an asshole picking on you like that."  
  
The eyes got narrower.  
  
"I want to start over. Hi, my name is Touya Kinomoto."  
  
Touya said extending his right hand towards Yue. His hand went ignored.  
  
"I don't know what games you're trying to play here Mr. Kinomoto, but you  
can rest assure I'm not going to fall for it."  
  
Touya retrieved his hand back and placed it over his chest in a hurt  
manner.  
  
"Games? I am not trying to play any games. I just want to be your  
friend. And please call me Touya."  
  
Yue looked at him suspiciously for a few moments.  
  
"Yeah well, games or not, I do not make friends with people I hardly  
know."  
  
Touya bent over his chair a bit and brought his face close to Yue and  
looked his straight in the eyes.  
  
"Fair enough. Can you at least tell me your name?" Touya spoke softly  
gazing at his face.  
  
Yue heaved a sigh and answered.  
  
"I'm Yue Daidouji."  
  
"Well Yue. You can rest assured that I will make you mine." Touya said  
lounging back in his seat. At Yue's sharp turn of head, he added.  
  
"Friend. I will make you my friend." There was a tiny smirk splayed  
over his features.  
  
Yue had just opened his mouth to retaliate when the doors opened and  
their teacher walked in. Whatever words Yue had to say to him, died on  
his lips as he set his eyes on the man before him.  
  
Yue felt his heart beat increase rapidly as he looked upon the vision in  
front of him.  
  
His teacher was a very tall man, standing to be at least 6' 5". He had  
long black hair, which were tied up at the nape of his neck and fell down  
to his waist. He had a beautiful face with angular features and pale  
smooth skin. His eyes, the shade of a very dark blue, were peeking out  
from behind a pair of round glasses. (Can you guess who it is already,  
he he he he!). He had a thin but broad frame. He was dressed in a crisp  
white shirt, tucked into a pair of blue jeans and a sports coat slung  
over his shoulders.  
  
He took off his coat and draped it over the back of the chair. He then  
cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention.  
  
"Good afternoon everyone." The teacher greeted the class.  
  
Yue felt something inside of him melt at the deep sexy tone of his voice.  
  
"My name is Charles Reed (1) and this semester, I will be teaching you  
American History."  
  
For a fleeting moment, Yue felt Mr. Reed's eyes come towards him and  
settle there for a few seconds.  
  
Mr. Reed then proceeded to explain to the what wars and conflicts in  
American History they will be learning and discussing about this  
semester.  
  
No matter how hard he tried, Yue just couldn't pay attention to what was  
being said. Instead, all his concentration was set on the man himself.  
During his explanation, Yue noticed that Mr. Reed's gaze constantly kept  
coming towards his side of the room.  
  
This was it. This was the man Yue had been waiting for. This was the  
person Yue felt he could trust with all his precious feelings and  
emotions. Yue momentarily forgot and anyone else existed in this room.  
It was just him and the man in the front, speaking softly to the class.  
Yue had fallen in love at first sight.  
  
*=*=*  
  
TBC.  
  
1. I felt that Clow Reed would sound kind of weird, so I gave him the  
name of Charles Reed.  
  
Author's notes: dun dun dun *mysterious music plays*. How do you like  
it? Please ignore the long wait for the next chapter, I was bitten by  
the lazy bug. Oh and don't worry, this is definitely going to be a  
Touya/Yue story. I just have to put in a bit of drama and conflict and  
all that crap. Thank you soooo much to every one who took out some time  
and reviewed. I greatly appreciate it. Oh, and next update will not  
take as long as this one did. I am through with school Yay *does a crazy  
little dance*, so I have time to work on my stories. Please don't forget  
to leave a little note about how I'm doing. Love you all, bye now ^_^. 


	8. Chapter 8

Author's notes: I am really so very sorry for the looooong wait. I was hit with such a writer's block that you wouldn't believe. I want to let you guys know that I really appreciate the kind reviews. And special thanks to those guys who e-mailed me personally. I love hearing from you. I also love, absolutely love, talking to people. It you guys want to ask me about what I'm working on, or how far I've gone, feel free to send me an e-mail, or an IM on MSN or Yahoo. My ID's are on my profile page, go check it out. I would love to hear from you guys. Thanks for reading this. Hope you'll enjoy the next chapter.  
  
Chapter 8.  
  
"How was you guys first week of school?"  
  
Sonomi Daidouji asked, taking a bite out of her steak. It was Friday night and the family was sitting together, enjoying their dinner. It was very rare that they got a chance to get together like this. Sonomi was rarely present because of her duties at the hospital, and Yue almost always skipped, using homework as an excuse.  
  
"It was good."  
  
Yukito answered, through a mouthful of steak and mashed potatoes. Tomoyo gave him a disgusted look, for he was seated right across from her. Yue just shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly and went back to picking at his food. Tomoyo placed her fork on the plate and turned excitedly towards her mother.  
  
"My week was excellent. The very first day, I made a lot of friends. And the classes have been great too. We didn't have any trouble catching up to the materials, right guys?"  
  
Tomoyo looked towards her brother for affirmation. Yue gave her a small smile and nodded his head. Yukito swallowed his bite and looked up at her.  
  
"Speak for yourself. I'm dying out there." He said glumly, sipping at his glass of water. Sonomi raised an eyebrow at him.  
  
"Why? What's the matter?" she asked, concern evident in her tone. Yukito heaved a sigh.  
  
"Well, you know what an 'expert' I am at math. That subject is giving me the most trouble." Yukito looked over at Yue. "And that jerk-face over there won't even help me out. He's always shutting his door on my face and tells me to leave him alone."  
  
Yue looked at him defiantly.  
  
"I have good reason. Your thick-headed brain doesn't pick up on things very quickly. I have better things to do with my time then to spend hours trying to tutor you in a simple subject."  
  
Tomoyo gave a loud laugh, while Yukito flicked a few peas at him from his plate. Sonomi hid her smile behind her glass of wine.  
  
"Yue, that's not nice." Sonomi reprimanded her son, her voice full of mirth. Yue again shrugged his shoulders. Yukito stuck his tongue out at him.  
  
"I don't know what to do." He wailed and then brightened all of a sudden. He turned towards his mother. "Hey Mom, why don't you help me out? I mean you're sort of good with math. Do you think you could help?"  
  
Sonomi sweat-dropped slightly.  
  
"Well gee son, thanks for your belief in my math skills."  
  
Yukito gave her a huge smile.  
  
"But unfortunately, I can't help you out."  
  
Yukito slumped down in his seat and frowned. Sonomi patted his head.  
  
"You know how tough my job is honey. I get called in whenever they need me. I barely have time to relax at home. I hope you understand." Sonomi said in a pleading tone, pinning him down with her gaze.  
  
Yukito gave her a small smile.  
  
"Yeah. I know. It's o.k Mom, don't sweat it. It was a long shot anyway."  
  
Sonomi smiled back at him. Her eyes then widened with comprehension.  
  
"Hey, why don't you ask one of your classmates to help you?" she suggested.  
  
Yukito scrunched up his eyes.  
  
"I don't really know anybody that well yet. But I'll give it a try. They have tutoring session at school I could go to one of them."  
  
Sonomi nodded her head. She then looked at her watch.  
  
"O.K guys, I'm gonna hit the bed. There is a case I've been meaning to study so I'll see you all in the morning. Good night."  
  
She pushed her chair back and stood up.  
  
"Night Mom."  
  
All three of her children called out after her. When she disappeared up the stairs, Tomoyo turned to her brothers.  
  
"All right, whose turn is it to clean-up today?"  
  
"Not me. I did the cleaning yesterday." Yukito immediately held up his hands.  
  
Yue rolled his eyes and got up to put the dishes away. It was his turn to clean up tonight. Tomoyo looked over at Yukito who was looking down at the table cloth and chewing on a bread stick.  
  
"Hey big bro." Tomoyo called him softly. "Are you really having trouble with your math class?'  
  
Yukito looked up at her concerned face. He nodded his head solemnly.  
  
"Yeah. And there's a test coming up in two weeks. I have no idea how I'm ever going to pass it." He said glumly.  
  
Tomoyo reached out and grabbed his hand.  
  
"Hey, why don't I ask Kero to get someone to help you? He knows everyone at school and I'm sure he'll hook you up."  
  
Yukito looked at her for a few moments. He then leaned forward and kissed her forehead.  
  
"Did I ever tell you that you're my most favorite sister in the whole wide world."  
  
Tomoyo's face broke out in a dazzling smile. She swatted at him playfully.  
  
"You're only sister in the whole wide world." She repeated the answer she had always given him. The sound of telephone ringing arose from somewhere in the house.  
  
Yukito got up and ruffled Tomoyo's hair.  
  
"I really appreciate you doing that, you know." He said in a serious tone. Tomoyo beamed up at him.  
  
"Hey, that's what sisters are for."  
  
Yukito smiled widely at her.  
  
"Hey Tomoyo." Yue called out. "You've got a phone call."  
  
Tomoyo got up to answer as Yukito made his way up the stairs to his room.  
  
Tomoyo went into the kitchen, from where Yue had called out. She found him, wearing an apron, one of his hands in a large yellow plastic glove. His other hand, which was free of the glove, was holding the cordless phone. His hair were gathered up on top of his head, and a few soap suds clung to his cheeks. He handed the phone over to Tomoyo, who smiled at his appearance.  
  
Cradling the phone to her ears, Tomoyo went into the living room.  
  
"Hello."  
  
"Hey Tomoyo. It's me Sakura."  
  
Tomoyo immediately brightened.  
  
"Hey Sakura, what's up."  
  
"Nothing much. Hey Tomoyo, I called to ask you if you were busy tomorrow?"  
  
Tomoyo thought for a moment. Except for a few chores around the house, her day was pretty much empty.  
  
"Nope, I don't have any plans." She answered.  
  
"Oh Yay!!"  
  
Tomoyo had to move the phone away from her ears, at the sound of the excited yell. She shook her head and laughed. She then pressed the phone back to her ears.  
  
"That's good." Sakura was saying. "You can come and hang with us tomorrow. The gang likes to get together on Saturday and we go over the whole week together. You know, talk about our classes, share gossip that we missed." Sakura and Tomoyo shared a laugh. "And we basically spend the day together. So what do you say, you in?"  
  
Tomoyo couldn't have been happier.  
  
"Of course I'm in."  
  
Sakura gave another whoop of joy.  
  
"Where do you guys meet?" Tomoyo inquired.  
  
"Oh, you know that café down the block from our school. That's our meeting point. We then take it from there."  
  
"All right then. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
"Yeah. And don't forget to bring Yue and Yukito too."  
  
Promising to meet each other tomorrow, both girls hung up.  
  
Now, to ask her brothers to go with her. She went into the kitchen where Yue was wiping down the counter. He had already put all the dishes away. Yukito was there too, with his head buried in the fridge. Yue looked up at her when she entered.  
  
"That was Sakura on the phone. She was asking me if I wanted to hang out with her tomorrow." She told them. Yukito emerged from the fridge with a huge piece of pie in his hands.  
  
"O.K so, what's the problem? Go. Have fun."  
  
Yukito said as he placed the plate on the table, and went on hunt for a fork.  
  
"You'll have to drive me. The place where they get together is by the school." Tomoyo explained. "And besides, she invited both of you too."  
  
Yukito shook his head.  
  
"Sorry, no can do, sis. I've joined the gym and I gotta go there tomorrow. I've been long overdue for an exercise session and that's going to take time."  
  
Tomoyo sighed and hung her head. She jutted out her lower lip a bit and didn't say a word.  
  
Yukito and Yue exchanged a look.  
  
"Fine, I'll take you." Yue offered.  
  
Tomoyo immediately perked up and smiled widely at him.  
  
"Cool." She yelled out and hugged Yue around the waist. Yukito smiled at the both of them.  
  
"That's nice. Everything worked out, and I don't even have to feel guilty."  
  
"Oh yeah." Yue said, looking down at Tomoyo. "We'll take Yuki's car."  
  
The smile disappeared off of Yukito's face.  
  
"Hey now, hold on one second." He started to say something, but was cut off.  
  
"Come on big bro. You don't want me to deprive myself of a social life, do you?"  
  
Tomoyo said pouting playfully, with mirth evident in her eyes. Yue raised his eyebrow at him.  
  
Yukito narrowed his eyes at both of them.  
  
"You better handle her gently Yue. And if I see a single scratch on her, I swear.."  
  
"Yeah yeah yeah."  
  
Yue cut him off this time with a wave of his hand.  
  
"I'll be careful with 'the car'. Don't worry about it." He called over his shoulder as both him and Tomoyo made their way over to the stairs.  
  
Yukito shook his head and went back to looking for the fork.  
  
At the top of the stairs, Tomoyo turned around.  
  
"Thanks Yue." She said sincerely.  
  
Yue smiled softly at her and ruffled her hair, a habit that was shared among both brothers. With a final goodnight, both siblings disappeared behind their doors.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"You sure she's coming right?'  
  
Kero asked for the tenth time that hour. He was currently sitting in the small café on the same block as the school, along with Sakura, Rika and Suppi. They had been there for about an hour now. Sakura and Suppi were chatting animatedly, whereas Rika was reading from a book she had brought along with her. They were all dressed in lose fitting, summer clothes. Even though it was the middle of September, the weather had taken a turn towards warm, and everyone wanted to take full advantage.  
  
Sakura sighed exasperatedly.  
  
"Yes Kero! How many times do I have to tell you." She rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"No, I'm just making sure." Kero said further. "I mean most of the time your head is up in the clouds because of that boyfriend of yours, so I was just making su...OWWW!"  
  
Kero was rubbing his shin that Sakura had promptly kicked under the table. Kero scowled deeply as Suppi smirked at him evilly.  
  
"Bad move man." He said. "You should know better than to speak negatively about Sakura's Beau." He held up his hands immediately when Sakura glared up at him.  
  
"Hey, I mean no harm."  
  
Sakura smiled and punched him playfully on the arm.  
  
"Where's Eriol? He didn't come in with you." She asked.  
  
"Hey, how come you didn't hit him as hard as you did me?" Kero cried out indignantly.  
  
"He stopped by a book store on the way over. He said he'll be here shortly, or if we can't wait for him, then just pick him up."  
  
Suppi answered, ignoring Kero. Kero harrumphed loudly and got up.  
  
"Well, I'm going to get something to drink." He turned towards the table. "You want anything Rika?"  
  
Rika, who had been immersed in her book and hadn't participated in the conversation, looked up at him and smiled.  
  
"Sure Kero, a chocolate shake would be nice."  
  
"O.K"  
  
Kero nodded his head and turned away. Suppi and Sakura grinned at each other.  
  
"There was no way he was going to ask us, was there?"  
  
Sakura nodded her head at Suppi. Suppi shook his head mirthfully and got up.  
  
"I'll get us some drinks. How about a strawberry smoothie?"  
  
Sakura smacked her lips.  
  
"Mmm, yummy."  
  
Suppi left to get them their drinks. Sakura turned towards Rika and took the book from her hands.  
  
"Hey Rika. Give the book a rest, will ya?" Sakura shook her head at her friend. "It's weekend for crying out loud. You're the smartest girl in our year already, are you planning on becoming the smartest person in the whole town? Anyway, what do you need to do all this extra studying for?"  
  
Rika smiled at her friend, as Sakura rifled through the pages.  
  
"Hey, give it here Sakura. I'm just doing some research." Rika extended her arm to take the book back.  
  
"You can study when you're at home."  
  
Sakura said in a final tone, putting the book in Rika's bag, which was under the table. When she straightened up, she noticed that Rika's whole posture had gone rigid, and she was staring intently at the table mats. Sakura was about to ask what was wrong, when someone tugged on her hair softly from the back.  
  
Sakura grimaced and turned around.  
  
"Hey monster, what're you up to?"  
  
Her older brother Touya was standing there, looking down at her. He was accompanied by his greasy haired, pointy-faced friend Akira, who had his eyes pinned on Rika. Sakura's scowl went deeper.  
  
"Leave me alone Touya. I'm here with my friends." She said to her brother.  
  
Despite her harsh tone, Touya smiled down at her.  
  
"I know that. I'm just asking what you're doing today."  
  
He asked with a small smile.  
  
Rika looked at the exchange between brother and sister amazingly. Although she had seen it many times before, it still amazed her to see Touya drop his rough and tough exterior whenever he was with his sister. His face, which had hardened over time, would always soften at the sight of her. The smile, that would light up his face, made him look a lot more handsome and more approachable. She then noticed the person standing next to Touya, who was still staring at her openly, and dropped her gaze back to the table.  
  
Sakura took a deep breath, and looked up at him.  
  
"Well, if you must know, we are waiting here for a new friend of mine and the rest of the gang. We're going to plan on what to do, when everyone is here. Maybe we'll go to Lake Eden, or something."  
  
Touya nodded his head, and once again pulled on her hair.  
  
"Just be careful o.k."  
  
Sakura smiled and nodded in reply. She loved her brother to pieces, but he could really be overwhelming at times. He should realize by now that she was not 5 years old anymore, and didn't always need her older brother to look out for her. But, she guessed, old habits die hard.  
  
"O.K have fun on your day off, kiddo."  
  
Touya said, and turned around to find a table of his own. Akira finally took his eyes off of the quiet girl, and followed his leader like a lap dog. When they were both out of ear shot, Rika sat up straight and took a deep breath.  
  
"Whew. What is with that guy?" she grumbled.  
  
"I know." Sakura was scowling on her friend's behalf. "I mean, talk about rude. I don't know why Touya hangs with him. He's such a leech."  
  
Rika smiled at her friend.  
  
"I'm glad you were here. I don't know what I would do if I ever see that guy on my own."  
  
"Well," Sakura said thoughtfully. "I'm sure you'll have your book bag with you, since you are never seen without it. You could always throw that at his head. With the amount of books you carry in that thing, I'm sure it'll knock him out into next week."  
  
Both girls giggled over the mental image of a prone Akira.  
  
"Let's hope I never have to find that out." Rika said with slightly widened eyes.  
  
They both giggled again, and were soon joined by Suppi and Kero, who had brought the drinks. With their refreshments, the conversation turned towards more enjoyable subjects.  
  
*~*~*  
  
"Oh man, that Rika chick is hot."  
  
Akira said, once they settled down on a table further away from the girls. He was still trying to glance at their directions.  
  
Touya glared at him.  
  
"Well, 'that Rika chick' is one of my sister's friends. You better keep your filthy hands to yourself, understood?"  
  
Akira gulped at the hard tone in Touya's voice. He knew that there were some things that you didn't dare mess with. Sakura and her friends being one of those. It was no secret how protective Touya was of his sister. Even when he wasn't with her, he still had her under his protective shadow. Unbeknownst to Sakura's friends, Touya had brought them under his protection as well.  
  
"Yeah, understood man. Hey come on, lighten up dude. I was only kidding." Akira stammered.  
  
Touya raised an eye-brow at him, and then turned his gaze towards the menu.  
  
Even though he didn't like eating at this place, it still served good coffee. Touya's favorite place to eat, if he hadn't made the food himself, was most definitely the deli down the street from his house. They served really good food there, the kind that Touya had grown up eating.  
  
He glanced over at Sakura's table. She was laughing and chatting excitedly with her friends. As Touya was observing, her group was joined by the cheerleader and her basketball playing boyfriend. And the one person, who was the only one brave enough, to stand up to Touya. Syaoran Li. His sister's boyfriend. Touya had always chased away any potential boyfriends who had come towards his sister. Syaoran was the only one who had stood up to him, and told him in no uncertain terms that he loves Sakura. And that he will continue to go out with her, whether Touya liked it or not. With a solemn promise that Syaoran better take care of her, Touya had shaken his hand. Now, Syaoran was one of the very few people that Touya trusted and respected.  
  
He was weary to let his sister go because of how he had grown up. Their Mom had passed away, when Sakura was very young. Their father had had to work extra hard to support his small family. Touya was all Sakura had left, since she hardly ever saw her father. She always ran up to her big brother with her problems. No matter if they were really small like a scraped knee, or something like a boy picking on her at school. The first person she ran to was Touya, and he always took care of her. Part of the reason he had established 'Black Angels', was so everyone would know and fear his name. And they would know that Sakura is his sister, and would think twice before picking on her. Nakuru, Fumi and Akira had joined up later on.  
  
Touya shook his thoughts away and looked up at the waitress. Akira was flirting rather shamelessly with the middle-aged woman. Touya shook his head in disgust and ordered a large black coffee.  
  
A small breeze indicated that the door had opened. Because he had nothing better to do at the time, Touya looked up to see who had entered. His eyes widened slightly, and a smirk appeared on his handsome face. Yue Daidouji had just entered the café with his sister. They were both making their way over to Sakura's table, where they were received with loud yells of cheer. Touya noticed that the petite girl had immediately sat down on Sakura's other side, whereas Yue had nodded his head at the group, and was now making his way over to the counter. He perched himself on top of the rounded stools that were lined up in front of the counter, and placed an order.  
  
Touya smiled evilly. He looked towards Akira who was also staring at Yue. He narrowed his eyes.  
  
"I'm going to go say Hi to him. You better stay here, and start saving up your money. I'm going to win that bet if that's the last thing I do."  
  
With those words, he stood up to walk towards the solitary figure sitting at the counter.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Yue had to stifle a smile at the reception that he and Tomoyo had received. They were sure a lively group of people. They all had insisted that Yue sat with them and join them, but Yue had declined politely. He wanted Tomoyo to have her own social life. He didn't want her to feel that her brothers are always around her, watching her every move. He didn't want her to feel suffocated, that's why he gave her, her own space.  
  
Sitting at the counter, he ordered himself a cup of coffee, and waited while it prepared. His thoughts wavered and went over to the subject that had been haunting his thoughts. His history teacher, Mr. Reed. Ever since the first day, he had fallen head over heels for the beautiful man. He didn't know how he could feel so strongly for him in such short time, but he did. Every night he fell asleep thinking about the lecture he had given for that day. He recalled the deep, throaty sound of his voice, and the way his long black hair swayed with every move he made.  
  
Once his coffee arrived, he started sipping on it slowly. He thought about how to make his dreams a reality. He really wanted to be with Charles Reed, but didn't know how to go about it. He didn't even have a confidant he could share this with. He was also a little bit weary of Touya Kinomoto's behavior. Ever since the first time they had met, it had felt as though Touya hates his guts. But now, at school, he was acting as if he was his best friend. The things he had heard about his gang, hadn't settled well within his system. But it was like another Touya that he encountered in the classroom everyday.  
  
He was so lost in his jumbled up thoughts that he didn't hear when someone slipped into the seat right next to his.  
  
"Yue Daidouji."  
  
Somebody said his name really close to his ears. He got so startled that the next sip of coffee he took, spilled out some and scalded his lower lip. With a small hiss of pain, he quickly put the cup down and wiped at his mouth. He then looked at the person who had spoken to him. He was greeted with Touya's smiling face.  
  
"Hey, how you doing buddy?"  
  
Touya said as if they were the best of friend. Yue heaved a silent sigh.  
  
"I'm fine thank you."  
  
"So, what brings you out here, man?" Touya asked.  
  
"Oh, I was just dropping my sister off here." He replied politely. He hadn't wanted this interruption.  
  
"So, how do you like our town man?"  
  
Touya swiveled in his chair, so now his back was supported by the counter. He put his elbows up and slid down a bit. Now, he was at face to face level with Yue.  
  
"Umm, I haven't really seen it whole yet. Just the school. But it seems nice." Yue spoke carefully. He was still wary of his intentions.  
  
"Oh really. Well we can't have that. Well I'm free today, why don't I show you around?" Touya offered.  
  
Yue bit the inside of his lip. 'Why is he doing this?'  
  
"I appreciate the offer, but no thanks. I think I just want to be alone right now."  
  
Yue hoped that Touya would take the hint and leave him alone. He didn't.  
  
"Aww come on man. What fun is it being alone? Come on, I'll show you all the hot spots, and introduce you around. It'll be fun." Touya insisted.  
  
Yue rolled his eyes. 'what a thick-headed moron.'  
  
"Maybe some other time."  
  
Touya got a little higher on his seat, and brought his face closer to Yue.  
  
"Let me put it to you this way. I am not going to leave you alone unless you agree to go with me. So, it's your choice. We can either sit here and talk, or you could come with me and look around."  
  
Touya was so close to him that Yue could feel his hot breath on his face. He flushed at the close proximity. Touya was still looking at him waiting for an answer. Was it his imagination, or did Touya's eyes shifted from his eyes to his lips. Unable to look at him in this position, Yue swiveled his own chair around. Now they were sitting side by side. Yue bent his head at an angle and looked at him. Touya had also straightened up, and was still looking at Yue with an intense scrutiny. Yue opened his mouth to say something, when Tomoyo walked up to him.  
  
"Hey Yue." She said, as Yue sat up straight. "My friends and I are going to go to Lake Eden, and then we're probably going to hit the mall."  
  
Yue nodded his head.  
  
"O.K do you want some money?"  
  
Tomoyo giggled and shook her head.  
  
"No, I'm good. Just wanted to let you know that don't worry about picking my up. Suppi said he'll drop me off, since we live right across from each other."  
  
Yue smiled softly, and tugged at her ponytail.  
  
"O.K go have fun. Oh wait. Tomoyo this is Touya Kinomoto."  
  
Even though he didn't like that guy very much, there was still no excuse to be rude. Tomoyo smiled and held out her hand.  
  
"Touya, this is my sister Tomoyo."  
  
Touya gave her a lopsided smile, and held her hand. He then brushed a small butterfly kiss across her knuckles.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet such a pretty little lady."  
  
Tomoyo gave a small giggle.  
  
"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Kinomoto."  
  
Touya held a hand to his heart, as if hurt.  
  
"Please, call me Touya. Mr. Kinomoto is my father."  
  
Tomoyo chuckled loudly.  
  
"All right, Touya." She then turned towards her brother. "O.K Yue, I'll see you later at home. And please don't sit here drinking coffee all day, go and have some fun. O.K"  
  
Yue sweat-dropped at her motherly tone, while Touya smirked at him.  
  
"Bye guys."  
  
Tomoyo waved and quickly jogged up to join her friends. She went over to Sakura. They both looked behind them at the two boys sitting at the counter. Sakura smiled widely and whispered something in Tomoyo's ears. Tomoyo looked back at them and both girls giggled loudly, before exiting. Both Touya and Yue were a little apprehensive of their sisters. God only knew what went inside the mind of a woman.  
  
Once they had gone, Touya again turned towards Yue.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Yue heaved a defeated sigh. Anything was better than sitting alone, and wallowing in self-pity. Maybe a little distraction would help clear his mind a bit. He looked towards Touya, and nodded his head.  
  
"Sure. Why not?"  
  
"All right. Let's get the hell out of here. Come on."  
  
Touya jumped off the stool and made towards the door. Now that he was standing up straight, Yue took in his appearance. Today, for the first time, he saw Touya dressed in a pair of tight black jeans. A white t-shirt was tucked into his pants, and a blue-jeans jacket was wrapped around his middle. He wore his black-buckled boots. He was quite the picture of an out-law, out to cause more damage. Yue found his appearance to his liking. Maybe a little sex... No, Yue placed a stop at his thoughts. He did not think that Touya Kinomoto was in any way sexy. He didn't like the boy like that. Plus, he had other things to occupy his mind. Like one Mr. Charles Reed.  
  
Once outside, Yue took out his car keys, and made towards his, or rather Yukito's, car. He was about to put the key in the door, when his hand was grabbed in a large, warm grip.  
  
"Uh uh. You won't be needing you car. We'll be riding on my bike."  
  
Touya pointed towards the shiny, black Harely Davidson, which was standing proudly at one corner of the lot. It had leather seats and it gleamed in the sunlight. Yue couldn't help but admire the piece of machinery. Touya went over and perched on the seat, facing Yue.  
  
"I think it would be better if I take my car." Yue tried to protest.  
  
"Nah. Leave it here. No one's going to mess with it. I'll bring you back to pick it up, o.k."  
  
In short time, Yue had learned that there was no use arguing with Touya. He had always thought that Yukito was stubborn, but even he had nothing on the boy staring at him right now.  
  
"Fine."  
  
Yue went over, as Touya smiled widely and straightened up. He then swung his long legs over the seat and kicked the stand up. Once the bike was up right, Yue climbed in the back. He didn't know where to place his hands. There was no back stand for him to hold on to. He was still thinking when Touya turned his head towards him.  
  
"Sorry, I don't have a helmet for you."  
  
Yue shook his head.  
  
"That's o.k."  
  
Touya started up the bike, and it came to life with a roar. Yue decision, as to where to place his hands, was made on its own, when Touya took on the street with a jolt. Yue was pushed against his back, and his arms came forwards to clasp around his waist. He tried to keep his hold as light as possible, but that was no use. He tightened his grip around him as Touya sped down the road. With his heart beating loudly in his chest, Yue placed his head on Touya's broad back to block out the wind.  
  
Praying to every Deity he knew, Yue hoped he would be able to see his family again after this wild ride with the maniac on the bike. With his arms firmly around him, Yue closed his eyes, and let Touya take him to whatever place he had in mind.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Touya was really enjoying the ride. When he noticed how Yue was clinging to his back, he sped up more, just to feel his form pressing into him. The way his dainty arms were encircled around his waist, were sending shivers down his spines. Touya felt a bit surprised at his reaction to having something as simple as Yue holding onto him, whereas he had never felt like this when Nakuru was riding with him.  
  
He made a final turn and stopped the bike. He turned off the engine and got off. He turned towards Yue and couldn't suppress the smile that broke out over his face. Yue was sitting with his eyes tightly shut, and his lower lip clenched between his teeth. He was holding onto the seat with fisted hands, as if never want to let go. His hair were in a complete disarray.  
  
Touya tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Umm, hey dude. We're here."  
  
Very slowly, Yue let go of the seat and opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and got off the bike.  
  
"You are such a maniac. Has anyone ever told you that?"  
  
He scowled at Touya, while patting down his wild, out of control hair.  
  
"Loads of people. Now come on."  
  
Touya said as Yue looked at the surrounding.  
  
"Where are we?" he inquired.  
  
Touya started towards the diner, where he had stopped. He went up to the door and held it open for him.  
  
"A little place I like to call home away from home."  
  
Yue raised his eyebrows at him. Touya gave a small chuckle.  
  
"Come on!"  
  
They both entered and were immediately hit with strong aromas of brewing coffee and freshly baked bread. They made their way over to the counter as Yue gave the place a once over.  
  
Even though it was small, it was very well kept. The floors were clean and sparkled with shine. The food was displayed nicely in the glass counters. And quite a few waitresses were walking around taking people's orders. For a Saturday morning, the place was fairly empty. The people who were present were talking softly amongst themselves.  
  
When they walked up to the counter, Yue looked at the elderly woman behind the counter. She looked to be in her late fifties. Her graying hair were in a bun and she had a rosy complexion. She gave them a wide smile as they approached.  
  
"Well hello there stranger. How may I be of service to you?"  
  
Touya placed his hands on the counter and hauled himself up. He bent towards the lady and gave her a peck on the forehead.  
  
"Hey Irene. How's it going sweetheart?"  
  
Irene smiled and swatted at him playfully. Touya stood back straight.  
  
"Don't you 'sweetheart' me, Kinomoto. Where have you been? I haven't seen you in a while."  
  
Touya seemed a bit embarrassed.  
  
"Oh you know Irene. Been busy with the school work and all that."  
  
"Oh really." Irene raised an eyebrow. "You bringing in straight A's I suppose. I can't wait to see your report card when it comes in."  
  
Yue observed all this with an amused expression. She was reprimanding him like a mother. Irene then looked towards him and smiled.  
  
"Well hello there darling. Haven't seen you before."  
  
Touya turned towards him.  
  
"Irene, this is my good friend Yue Daidouji. And Yue, this is the love of my life Irene Peterson."  
  
Irene laughed whereas Yue smiled gently. They both shook hands over the counter.  
  
"Nice to meet you Mrs. Peterson." He said politely.  
  
"Oh hush darling. Call me Irene. Everyone else does." She said, smiling affectionately, and winked at him.  
  
"So, what will you boys be having today?" she asked, coming into her business mode.  
  
"I'll have your freshest batch of French toast with maple syrup and black coffee with one sugar." Touya immediately spoke up. Irene wrote it down and turned towards Yue.  
  
"And for you honey?"  
  
"Oh, nothing for me, thanks." He shook his head.  
  
"What? No way!" Touya cried out. "You haven't lived until you have tasted her pancakes. She makes the best pancakes on the western hemisphere. Irene, add them to the order please."  
  
Ignoring Yue's shakes of heads and frantic protests, Touya hauled him over to a booth by the window. He slid into the seat as Yue sat down in the opposite seat and glared at him.  
  
"What?"  
  
Touya asked innocently, noticing the scowl on Yue's face.  
  
"I wasn't hungry. Why did you order for me?"  
  
Touya waved him off.  
  
"Hey come on. You don't always have to be hungry to enjoy a meal. Live a little dude."  
  
Yue's color paled for a second at Touya's words. A deeply hidden memory threatened to surface in Yue's mind, but was squashed down as Touya spoke up again.  
  
"I was thinking that after we were done here, we could go the bowling alley. What say you?"  
  
Yue breathed deeply and shrugged his shoulders.  
  
"Why are you asking me? Aren't you the one who is going to be making those decisions today?"  
  
It was very hard to miss the biting sarcasm in Yue's tone. Touya stared at him intently for a long time, making Yue nervous and fidget in his seat. He tore his eyes away from him as their food arrived.  
  
"Hmm, there you go darlin'."  
  
Touya looked up and thanked the waitress who had brought their food. She was a pretty little thing, with dark brunette hair and big brown eyes. She smiled flirtatiously at him.  
  
"No problem handsome."  
  
She said and walked away, with a little sway to her hips. Touya's eyes followed her as she left to retrieve other orders. When his eyes came back to his own table, he was met with a very narrow, silver gaze. Yue was glaring at him furiously. When Touya made eye-contact, he immediately dropped his gaze and concentrated on the food in front of him.  
  
What the hell was the matter with him? Yue silently reprimanded himself. For some reason, he hadn't liked the way Touya's eyes had followed that skanky woman. Why would he care who this guy looks at?  
  
Yue shook his head as he dumped a generous amount of syrup on his pancakes. Even though he really wasn't that hungry, he might as well enjoy the food to the fullest. He took the first bite and closed his eyes in ecstasy as the warm confection dissolved in his mouth.  
  
"Hmm, these 'are' good."  
  
He opened his eyes and looked at Touya.  
  
Touya, who had noticed Yue staring at him earlier, kept his head bent over his food and continued to eat quietly. Yue felt bad about his earlier words. Even though the guy was coming on a little too strong, that was still no excuse for Yue to bite his head off.  
  
"Umm, look Touya. I am really sorry about earlier."  
  
Touya's head snapped up at Yue's apologetic tone. His eyes went wide with disbelief at the sorrowful look on Yue's face.  
  
"I know you're just trying to be friendly, but you are also being a bit forceful." Yue continued. "Why don't you back off a bit and let me think for myself." He said in an amiable tone.  
  
Touya put down his fork.  
  
"You're right. I'm sorry too. I just like you so much and want you to be my friend. I haven't had many friends in my life and I don't really know how to go about making you mine."  
  
Yue face was reddening at Touya's words. He knew that Touya meant to make him his friend, but still, he should really choose his words carefully. And the way Touya was looking at him with his sharp blue eyes, made his heart-beat skip a beat. Or two.  
  
"O.K then, how about if we start over?" Yue said, putting his own fork down. He then extended his hand.  
  
"Hi. My name is Yue Daidouji. Would you like to be my friend?"  
  
Touya's face broke out in a real smile. His eyes took a new shine that Yue had never seen before. Touya grabbed his hand in his large firm grasp.  
  
"Hi. I'm Touya Kinomoto. And I would love to be your friend."  
  
He squeezed his hand gently and bent his head towards him.  
  
"Would you give me the honors of spending the day with me, Yue? Please?"  
  
Yue smiled at him in return.  
  
"I think I would like that."  
  
Touya nodded his head and straightened up. They both went back to finishing their food.  
  
He still had a long way to go before he made Yue his and his alone. But, by the looks of things, he had successfully completed the first step. Now it was only a matter of time before Yue came willing into his arms. From somewhere deep within, a sense of guilt arose at playing with the beautiful, shy and quiet boy's feelings. But Touya suppressed it down before it could make an impact. He had to keep his word that he had promised his gang. Touya was now eagerly looking forward to the day ahead.  
  
*~*~*  
  
TBC.  
  
Author's notes: I really promise this time that I'm going to get the next chapter out soon. Please don't give up on me, and stick with the story. I actually have a few ideas for the next chapter, and will put it up as soon as I can. Oh, please let me know if I'm pushing Yue and Touya together too much. I would really really appreciate feedback. I love all you guys so very much. Until next time. Bye for now ^_^ 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, it all belongs to the wonderful people who created CCS.

Warnings: AU, OOC, Language, Yaoi

Author's Notes: Yes folks, I am awake from my coma I noticed that I have let my baby sit idle for quite a while, now it's time to get a move on. I am just very thankful to everyone who keeps reading it, and sending me reviews. I Love You All, from the bottom of my heart. Thank you, and happy reading.

* * *

My Best Guarded Secret…..chapter 9 

"So, are you ready to go Tomoyo?"

Sakura asked as she and Rika got up out of their seats. Rika also gave her a questioning look as she hung her back-pack over her shoulders. Chiharu and Yamazaki were already outside.

"Yeah, just give me a second to tell my brother."

Tomoyo walked towards the boy sitting at the counter, with Sakura's brother. She observed as Tomoyo spoke to Touya and gave a small grin as Touya gave her a kiss on her hand.

With Syaoran's arms around her shoulders, they followed Rika and the guys towards the door and held it open for Tomoyo. When she walked up, both Tomoyo and Sakura gave a last fleeting look towards the guys.

"Aren't our brothers the most handsome guys in the whole place?" Sakura whispered to Tomoyo. "Could you imagine them as a couple?"

Both girls giggled at the image and walked out into the bright sunny day.

A pebble flew through the air and hit the back of the head of bright blonde hair. The owner of said hair was walking cheerfully along the deserted path talking with a girl with serene eyes.

"Oye! What's the big deal?"

Kero looked back and glared at a whistling Suppi, and his companions who were trying their best to hold in their laughter.

Sakura's face was slowly turning red while trying to hold in her laughter, so she buried it in her boyfriend's neck. Syaoran's arm came protectively around Sakura's shoulder to hold her firmly. There was a small smile on his face. Tomoyo was giving a small cough to cover her giggles, while Chiharu and Yamazaki were laughing openly.

"You talking to me?"

Suppi asked non-chalantly.

"Hn."

Kero grunted and grabbed Rika by the arm.

"Come on girl, these people are too immature to handle a small task such as walking peacefully."

Kero dragged Rika off and started walking much ahead at a faster pace. Tomoyo and Sakura finally let loose small giggles. It was always fun to ruffle the blonde boy's feathers to see his reactions. And no one did a better job of it then Suppi.

The small group of friends was walking along a huge stretch of highway towards the lake. Since the town was further away from the city, there were hardly any cars passing them by. Suppi was holding a small wicker basket he had brought along, which contained some light snack and cold drinks.

"I swear to God Suppi, the way you mess with him." Sakura said, wiping a tear from her eyes. "People would start to think you have a crush on him or something."

Suppi stumbled while taking the next step. Tomoyo immediately grabbed onto his arms to keep him from falling.

"God Sakura!" he cried out. "Give the guy a coronary why don't you? Me," he pointed to himself. "crushing on that." He pointed up ahead. "Preposterous!"

He huffed and shook his hair out.

Sakura winked at Tomoyo, who smiled and nodded.

"Yeah Suppi." She said in a teasing tone. "Come on, the way you pick on him and are always trying to get a reaction from him, it does give me doubts too."

Suppi looked at her with wide, hurtful eyes.

"Et tu, Tomoyo?"

Both girls burst out laughing once again.

"Oh, come on Suppi. You know we're just messing with you."

Sakura ruffled his hair lovingly.

"You know, in some cultures," spoke up Yamazaki. "Throwing stones at one's head is considered to be a holy act. It all started back in the middle ages when …….."

"Yeah yeah." Said Chiharu, yanking on his shirt to hurry him along, but mainly to shut him up.

"Oy slow pokes."

Kero called from up ahead. Apparently, in their teasing, they didn't notice that they had arrived.

"Move your asses and hurry the hell up." He shouted again.

"So eloquent." Suppi said in a dead-pan voice. "How can I not, but like him?"

The small group of friends laughed softly and walked up faster to catch up with their two friends.

The lake at this time of the day was a truly beautiful sight to behold. Still earlier than noon, there was a slight chill in the air. The sun's rays spread all over the glassy surface and reflected the light as molten gold. The whole surrounding was covered by lush green grass and tall shady trees.

By the time their friends caught up to them, Rika had already taken out a blanket from her back-pack and was spreading it under a giant oak tree. She was also taking out some reading materials.

Sakura and Syaoran sat down on the blanket, Syaoran with his back against the tree and Sakura held within his arms. Suppi and Tomoyo shortly followed suit.

Tomoyo sighed deeply as she sat down.

"Oh my. It's so peaceful here." She commented while running her eyes all over the place. "I love the place already."

"Yeah. That's why we come here whenever we get the chance." Said Sakura. "And we better make good on this time. Winter is just around the corner and it's real hard to come here when there's a foot of snow all over the place. Brrr." She gave a mock shiver.

Syaoran chuckled softly and kissed the top of her head.

"Yes." He said. "We all know how you can't stand to be out in the cold."

Sakura glared at him and stuck out her tongue.

"Hey Baby. Don't take that thing out if you don't plan on using it." He said in a deep, low voice.

"Oh. Eeeewwww!!!"

Kero cried out loudly.

"Come on you guys. We're in public."

Sakura and Syaoran completely ignored his protests, and proceeded to kiss each other lovingly.

"Oh. My eyes. My eyes."

Kero scratched at his face.

"If it bothers you, then don't look."

Rika said calmly without taking her eyes off the book in front of her.

"You're hopeless."

Suppi shook his head and lay down on the blanket. He was in the furthest corner, where sunlight was coming in through the leaves. He folded his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

Tomoyo couldn't help but laugh softly at their antics. She couldn't believe that only after knowing them for a week, they had become such good friends as if she had known them her entire life. She sent a silent prayer of thanks towards the heavens for helping her find such good company.

"I wish I had my camera with me." She commented out loud.

Sakura broke away from her boyfriend and looked at her.

"Yeah, I know. There are a lot of good picture taking opportunities here."

Tomoyo gave her a small smile.

"Oh. I'm not talking about a picture camera. I meant a video cam. I just got a brand new one from my Mom and I really would have brought it along if I had known it would be so nice here."

Kero looked at her with interest.

"Oh yeah. You like to make nature movies?"

"Not exactly." Replied Tomoyo. "I like to make everyday life movies featuring my family and friends."

Suppi had his head lifted off the ground and was listening to her too.

"Yeah. It's sort of a hobby of mine. After shooting the material, I like to splice the clips and edit them and see which scenes should be cut off, and which should be enhanced."

Tomoyo took a deep breath and looked at all the attention she was receiving.

"That's so cool."

"Wow." Said Kero. "We have a regular Steven Spielberg on our hands guys."

Tomoyo smiled and blushed slightly.

"Yeah." Sakura hopped over next to her. "I think it would be really cool if we can tape our outings like this and then watch them over and over again." Sakura had stars in her eyes.

"Oh yeah, we all know what a big movie buff you are, honey." Syaoran said from his spot. "I am witness and a willing victim to whenever a new movie comes out, and we just 'have' to be there opening night."

They all laughed when Sakura promptly turned around and slugged him in the arm.

"Love you too babe." Was Syaoran's reply.

Suppi got up off the blanket and stretched his arms up over his head.

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go for a run around the lake. Stretch out my muscles for the tryouts next week."

Tomoyo looked questioningly at Kero.

"He wants to join the track team. I hate to admit it, but he's really good. He can run really fast." Kero explained as Suppi took off at a light jog towards the lake.

Syaoran grabbed Sakura's hand and hauled her up.

"Umm…ano…" Sakura stammered, blushing a little. "We're going to take a walk around here too. We'll be back shortly."

They both started off.

"Make sure to 'walk' on your feet this time Sakura," Rika called out behind them. "last time you went for a walk, we spent all day taking twigs and leaves out of your hair."

She said mischievously, her eyes still glued to her book.

"Hey!"

Sakura cried out indignantly and buried her head in Syaoran's neck, as they walked away. There was a hint of blush on his face as well. When they were a safe distance away, the remaining five teenagers broke out into helpless giggles.

"Good one Rika" said Chiharu, wiping a tear from her eyes.

"I didn't expect that from you Rika Chan." Tomoyo said, controlling her laugher. "but it was good none the less."

Rika smiled at her and gave her a small wink. Yamazaki got up off the blanket as well.

"I am going to go check out the lake. I have heard that at midnight, a swarm of mermaids come out to bathe in the moonlight, and they blind anyone passing by who sees them."

Tomoyo and Kero were staring at him wide-eyes, while Chiharu was holding a hand to her forehead, and was shaking her head with her eyes closed.

"Let's go legend boy, I'll escort you on this quest."

She grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him off. They could still hear them arguing back and forth. Yamazki trying to tell her that the legend is true and Chiharu refuting him.

"Well, let's see what the idiot brought?"

Kero said, pulling the basket in front of him. He proceeded to take out a wrapped sandwich and open it up.

"Hmm. Swiss cheese and turkey."

He took a large bite of the sandwich and took out two more from the basket and handed them to the girls.

"Have to hand it to him." Kero said wiping crumbs from his mouth. "he may be a bastard, but he can surely make good sandwiches."

"Oh." Said Tomoyo, biting into her own sandwich. "I thought his Mom must have prepared them."

"Oh no," Rika said, with a hint of sorrow in her eyes. "Suppi and Eriol have to get by on their own. Their parents are just always so busy with their work, and their clients and their business meetings, that they don't have time for their boys."

There was hint of bitterness in her voice. Tomoyo took a deep breath and felt sympathy for the Hiiragizawa boys. Even though her own mother's work took a lot of her time and attention, she always set some time aside to spend with her family.

"What do they do?" she asked.

"They're both lawyers." Kero answered, biting into his second sandwich.

Rika had closed her book and set it aside. There was a sense of heaviness in the air.

"I wish Naoko would get back already." Said Rika. "I really miss her. Her stories always amuse us at times like this."

Kero chuckled softly.

"And not to mention scare the crap out of Sakura. That's always fun." He nodded his head.

"Who's Naoko?" Tomoyo asked.

"Oh, she's a part of our small group, you haven't yet met." said Kero. "She likes to tell ghost stories at every given opportunity. Sort of like Yamazaki."

"She's been on a trip to New York with her parents. She should be coming back any day now." Said Rika.

"That's good. She sounds like a very interesting person."

"Oh she is." Said Kero, nodding his head. "Her stories never fail to amuse us or to scare Sakura. She is deathly afraid of monsters and ghosts and witches and stuff like that."

Tomoyo was laughing softly when she abruptly stopped.

"Hey Kero," she asked. "You pretty much know everyone around here, right? Could you recommend somebody who's really good with math?"

"Why do you need help? You're pretty good with math." Said Kero.

"Oh, it's not for me actually. I'm asking for my brother. Math is not really his strong point and he needs help."

Kero thought for a moment.

"Well for that, I can recommend no one better than our resident bookworm here."

He nodded towards Rika.

"She's the best in the whole school!"

Tomoyo turned hopeful eyes in Rika's direction.

"Of course. I'll be more than happy to help out." She said gently.

Tomoyo smiled apologetically at her.

"Oh thanks so much Rika. But I'm afraid my brother's taking pre-calculus. And I know that only seniors take that course."

"Ahh heheheheheee." Kero giggled and sweat-dropped.

"Our Rika is two years ahead of us. She too is taking pre-calculus, while the rest of us mere mortals are struggling in Math 101."

Rika smiled and chucked the plastic sandwich wrapping at his head.

"Yeah. Actually I am taking pre-cal this semester." She said to Tomoyo. "I figured this way, in my senior year I'll have time to take some college level classes."

Kero gasped loudly and clutched his heart.

"The horror." He exclaimed. "When we should be enjoying our last year of imprisonment, she wants to take advance classes. Say it isn't so Rika, say it isn't so."

He fell at her feet and sobbed dramatically. Both Tomoyo and Rika were laughing at his antics. His wailing came to an abrupt stop when like earlier today, a pebble hit the back of his head.

"Suppi you bastard!" he turned and screamed.

Suppi was standing a little away from blanket, bent at the waist with his hands on his knees and was panting slightly. His face was flushed and his hair in a disarray.

"Come on slow poke." Suppi threw his earlier insult back at him. "Put that energy to good use. Come and race with me and everyone can see how much better I am than you, at that as well."

By this time, steam was pouring out of Kero's ears and his eyes had gone narrow. In a flash, he was out of the blanket, had his sneakers on, and was standing right next to Suppi.

"Let's go hot shot." Kero said through clenched teeth. "Let's see if your feet can run as fast as your mouth."

"After you, my lady."

Suppi gave him a little bow and extended his arm out. Kero harrumphed and took off at top speed. Suppi grinned at the girls, threw them a wink and ran off after the blond boy.

"These two are just too much." Said Rika. "I'm actually waiting for the day these two would stop their arguments and start making out."

Tomoyo chuckled.

"So Rika." She began. "Do you think you'll be able to help my brother out?"

"Of course Tomoyo." The gentle smile was back on her face. "Hmm, let's see." She touched a finger to her lip. "I am free during the lunch periods and I can stay for an hour after school. After that, I have club activities."

"That's great." Tomoyo said enthusiastically. "I'll let him know and we can set up a schedule. Although, I have to warn you, he may not want to do it during lunch hour, that's his favorite time of the day." She laughed as a large sweat-drop formed on the side o f her head.

Rika smiled and nodded her head.

"No problem."

Shortly after, both girls fell into small chatter. They talked about their common interest, while enjoying their food. Which is why they didn't notice when quiet footsteps were approaching from behind and a dark shadow was looming over them, waiting to pounce.

* * *

"Oh man, that was good eating!" 

Touya commented as both he and Yue walked out of the small family-sized restaurant.

"I'm not surprised." Said Yue disbelievingly. He was looking at Touya with a wide-eyed expression. "You did manage to finish all your food, and then finished mine, which I believe was more than half.

Touya looked at him with slanted eyes.

"Of course I finished it. It would be a shame to waste all that food."

He then turned towards Yue.

"It's no wonder you're so scrawny, when you have the appetite of a five-year old."

Yue glared at him out of the corner of his eyes. They were both walking towards Touya's bike.

"Hn." Yue grunted. "Better a five-year old kid then a 300 pound guerilla."

"At least I'd be able to beat you at arm wrestling." Touya flexed his arm in front of Yue's face. Who proceeded to push him off.

"I'm so good I'm afraid I'll probably throw you across the room. Ha hahahahaaa."

Yue gave a small smile at his antics and shook his head. He was beginning to enjoy his newfound friendship with Touya. This lighter, more fun side of him was something Yue felt he could get along with easily. Now, if he could only get him to back off a bit and give Yue his personal space, everything will be perfect.

"So, how are we going to do this?"

Touya asked, standing in front of his bike with his helmet in his hand.

Yue just looked at him.

"O.K. I was wearing it last time, so you can put it on now."

Touya handed him the helmet. Yue promptly pushed it back in Touya's arm.

"No, thank you. You keep it."

"No no, I insist." Touya pushed it back to him again.

"No thank you. I do not want helmet hair." Yue said forcefully.

"You hair will be fine. Stop being so vain. Look at my hair. They're perfect."

Touya grinned and ran a hand through his dark hair. His hand pushed his hair back from his face but then promptly fell back over his forehead when the hand was removed. Yue found that gesture strangely endearing, then mentally kicked himself for thinking such thoughts.

" 'Your hair will be fine', says the man with much shorter hair." Yue said in a dead-pan voice. "And anyway, it's not vanity, you try taking care of this. Do you know how long it takes to wash and blow-dry them?"

Yue grabbed his long mane of hair and draped them over his shoulder. Touya's hand twitched for they wanted to run through these long, satiny strands. Would his hair feel as silky as they looked? He thought to himself.

"O.K. then, suit yourself." Touya shrugged.

"It's fine." Yue nodded. "You know, I don't know why you are so eager to hand it to me. You're the one who is going to be in the front. Do you know how many flies and mosquitoes can fly into your mouth if you're not wearing a helmet?"

Touya looked a little green and shook his head. He slipped the helmet on and got on his bike. He kicked start it and revved it twice before looking at Yue.

"Come on."

Yue nodded and once again got on the bike behind Touya. He slipped his arms around his waist and held on to his own wrists, to avoid clutching on to Touya's shirt.

Touya grinned as he noticed Yue's hesitation to hold him. He gave an evil chuckle and lifted his front tire a little off the ground. His smile widened as he heard a startled gasp from behind him as Yue's arms encircled around him tightly.

Touya sped off down the road. He shouldn't be having this much fun. He should be trying to get into Yue's pants as fast as possible before getting out of his life forever. The tightened arms around his waist and the head which was leaning against his shoulder ensured him that while reaching towards his goal, there's no harm in having a little bit of fun along the way.

"Where are we going?" Yue shouted from behind him.

"I though we might hit the arcade." Touya shouted back, although is was muffled because of the helmet he was wearing.

"O.K." came the shouted response.

In no time, Touya had turned the bike on a very busy looking district. Many stores and shops lined both sides of the road and many people were out doing shopping and enjoying their weekend. Touya stopped his bike to the side and they both got off.

"Is there any time you ride the bike when it doesn't feel like the hounds of hell are after you?" Yue asked, after getting his bearings together.

Touya just grinned at him and gave him a small wink.

"Hey, riding like that has it's benefits."

Yue's cheeks turned slightly red, as he gave Touya a small punch in the arm. He walked on ahead into the arcade, where they had stopped.

Touya laughed and jogged ahead catching up to him.

"Ha. You punch like a five-year old too."

He stuck his tongue out at Yue, who just shook his head.

They purchased tokens at the front counter and went around experimenting with different games. The whole arcade was full of eager teenagers, who were busily spending their week's allowance. Touya stopped next to a street fighting game. He held up a coin in front of Yue.

"Challenge you."

Yue's eyes narrowed with anticipation, as he nodded his head.

"I accept."

They both deposited their coins into the slot, and started the game. A few minutes later they had gathered quite a crowd around themselves, for everyone wanted to see the sight of the two players. One tall, with dark hair and tanned skin. The other, shorter with long silver-blonde hair and pale skin. Not only their appearances were contrasted, but the way they were playing was also in exact opposite of each other.

The tall dark one was hunched over his console, and was beating down on the buttons in random fashion. His face had a wild look and he was constantly shouting obscenities at the screen. While the other one was standing straight, his face incredibly calm and his eyes glued to the screen. He was pressing down on the buttons and moving the handles as if he had all the time in the world. It was obvious from their reaction who was currently winning and who was 'graciously' losing.

"Umm. Excuse me."

"What?!" Touya turned in a huff and yelled at the highly terrified and panic stricken young man. By the jersey he was wearing, it was obvious that the teenager was the manager of this place.

"Excuse me Sir." He began, his voice faltering slightly. "You guys are making quite a scene, and there are quite a lot of youngsters here."

If it was possible, Touya's face turned even redder, as his electricity flashed in his eyes.

"So?!" He barked in the smaller guy's face.

The youth shivered horribly.

"I'm sorry Sir, but I will have to ask you to leave."

"Oh no you don't." Touya yelled. "I have every right to be here as the next person. You are not kicking me out, and I will not go without a fight." He clenched his fist right in front of the young man's face, who immediately went pale.

Yue had seen enough. He took a deep breath and grabbed Touya by the upper arm.

"Come on Touya. Let's go somewhere else." He dragged him backwards.

"Oh no we don't." Touya snatched his arm back. "We came here to have fun and these people cannot put a stop to it. I refuse to leave."

Yue suppressed his lower lip at the pout that Touya was giving. Touya was fighting so hard to be there, Yue felt as though this was a familiar scene to Touya that this had happened to him before. He felt a wave of sympathy wash over him as looked into Touya's eyes.

"It's o.k." he said calmly. "We can go and have fun somewhere else." He gave a slight smile.

Touya felt his insides melting at the small upturn of lips. For some reason, staring into Yue's silver-gray eyes filled him with a warm, peaceful calm. He felt his all his anger dissipating. He sighed deeply.

"Fine, we'll go." He turned towards the manager. "But you can rest assure that I will be back."

The teenager took a visible gulp and backed off slowly. Yue once again grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the exit, causing Touya to break his eye contact with the kid. He allowed himself to be lead outside, and once there, Yue dropped his arm.

"We didn't really _have_ to leave, you know." Said Touya, staring at the street in front of him. "Oh, I wanted to kick that brat's ass so much."

"What's the point in causing a scene?" Said Yue, looking at him sideways. "We are here to enjoy ourselves, not to get into unnecessary quarrels."

"O.K. I can tell you don't like confrontations."

Touya remarked and looked at him. He was slightly shocked to find that Yue's eyes looked glazed over and he had a faraway to his face.

"No. I try to avoid them." He answered in a vague, hollow voice.

Yue's feet got caught in a crack on the street and he stumbled forward. He would have fallen on his face if not for a pair of strong arms holding him securely around the middle. Yue shook his head and came back to himself. He looked up at Touya whose eyes were staring at him with an intensity that caused his heart rate to speed up.

"What happened to you Yue?" Touya whispered, his arm slightly tightening around Yue's waist.

Yue's eyes widened with shock. He hadn't expected Touya to be so perceptive. He forced a false laugh out of his mouth.

"Haha. I don't know. I am such a klutz today. Umm, thanks."

The seriousness never left Touya's face as he dropped his arms from Yue's middle. The both stared at each other solemnly.

"Ah hem. Well." Touya cleared his throat and looked around. "Oh, let's go there." He pointed up ahead to a bowling alley. Yue, who was glad that the attention was off of him, nodded his head.

They both walked over to the popular hotspot. They walked inside and were immediately hit with different aromas coming from the snack corner. Every few seconds, there were sounds of bowling balls hitting the floor.

"Hey why don't you go grab us an alley, I'll take care of the payment at front."

Touya prompted him towards the main floor, and went up to the counter. When he finished paying for his game, he turned around and was met with one of the guys at his school.

"Hey Kinomoto. How's it going?"

Touya heaved a deep breath and turned towards him.

"Hey Jimmy."

Jimmy wasn't part of their gang, as much as he wanted to be, but he was a sleaze ball. The likes of which even Touya didn't want to hand out with. He looked over Touya's shoulder scanning the place.

"It's strange to see you without your gang here. You going solo today?"

"Not that it's any of your business," Touya said through clenched teeth. "But, I'm here with a friend."

Jimmy looked around again and noticed Yue looking in their direction. He gave a loud laugh.

"Oh no, don't tell me. You cannot possibly be hanging out with Daidouji, are ya?" he guffawed again.

Touya's fingers clenched themselves into a tight fist. He felt such a strong wave of anger at him referring to Yue in that manner, that even he was surprised.

"So. Is there a problem with that?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

Jimmy, although not the brightest bulb in the bunch, understood that Touya was not happy. He waved his hand out in front to placate him.

"Hey take it easy man." He said. "All's I was sayin' was that you're too good for the likes of him. Word around the school is that kid's weird, and he plays for the wrong team if you know what I mean. I was jus' lookin' out for your reputation, ya know."

"I think I can look out for myself. But if you don't get out of my face soon, you are going to need serious looking out for."

Jimmy backed away.

"Take it easy man. Jus' tryin' to help."

"Beat it." At Touya's commanding tone, Jimmy gave a hasty retreat out of the bowling alley, and was followed by a couple of his friends.

"Hn." Touya grunted and walked over to Yue.

"Is everything all right?" he asked as Touya approached.

"Yeah, don't worry about it."

He then smiled and draped an arm over Yue's shoulder.

"You know, the coolest thing about his place is that they don't make you wear their sneakers. You can pretty much just go and play the game as you are."

Yue pushed his arm off. There was Touya, invading his personal space again.

"Come on pretty boy, we're up."

Touya bumped him slightly with his shoulder, while walking towards their lane. Yue groaned and followed Touya, glaring at the back of his head.

Touya picked up the first ball, balanced it in his hands and rolled it down the lane. The ball knocked down six out of the nine pins lined up on the other end.

"Yeah!" Touya pumped a fist in the air. "Let's see your scrawny arms do that." He mocked Yue.

Yue looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He smoothly picked up the ball, balanced in once in his hands and rolled it down the lane. The ball knocked all nine pins out. He walked back towards the bench, past a wide-eyed, jaw-dropped Touya and mumbled "Amateur".

"You're a cheater."

Touya sat down beside him on the bench and pointed a finger on his face. Yue folded the finger back in his hand with a hint of amusement.

"You need to know that I am better than you at everything."

Touya raised his eyebrow at him.

"Oh really."

Yue rolled his eyes.

"Well, at least you are not throwing a little tantrum like Yuki does when I beat him."

Touya mulled it over.

"O.K then, I'll prove to you that you are not always the winner. Game on."

"Fine by me." Said Yue. "You're going to be eating your words at the end."

"We'll see." Touya said with a gleam in his eyes.

They two young men then spent a few hours hitting the pins. Touya was trying his best to score strikes and doing his best to cause Yue to mess up. Every time Yue would go up to take a shot, Touya would give a loud false cough, or throw a comment towards him. Saying things like:

"Make sure you get all that hair out of your face." And, "Ooh, that's right baby, wriggle that ass."

Yue took a perfect shot every time.

"You can try to distract me all you want, " he told him as he walked back to the bench. "it doesn't work with me."

Touya just smiled at him, as he walked up to take his turn. When it was time for Yue's turn again, he was completely thrown off. While he was getting ready to take the shot, Touya had walked up behind him, wrapped his arm around Yue's shoulder and whispered huskily into his ear.

"Good luck."

Needless to say, that particular ball ended up in the gutter. Touya was laughing hysterically when Yue walked back after staring disbelievingly at the ball rolling down the gutter. He glared at Touya, placed one hand on his hip and pointed at him with the other.

"You need to learn to respect a person's personal space."

Touya immediately got off his seat, took Yue's hand in his own and held it against his chest.

"And you need to learn to start losing sometimes."

Why is he doing this again? Yue thought staring up at Touya. He was so incredibly close that he could feel his breath on his face. Yue unconsciously licked his lips, and felt a slight tremor going through Touya's body. He then realized that his hand was held against a hard chest in a firm grip. He looked at his hand for a second before bringing his eyes up again to Touya's face. Touya was looking down at him with half-lidded gaze, his head tilted slightly to one side. This time there was no doubt, Touya's eyes shifted to his lips and back to his eyes again.

"Uhmm…" said Yue. He felt blood rushing to his face and warming his cheeks. "I need to go to the bathroom."

He gently pried his hand out of Touya's grasp and walked towards the men's room. He could feel Touya's heated gaze all the way.

The bathroom was thankfully empty. Yue went to look at himself in the mirror and was not surprised to find that his cheeks were splattered with red. With the way his face was feeling hot, he was expecting his face to be glowing neon red.

So, he admitted to himself, he was slowly becoming attracted to Touya. But who could blame him. Touya was a very handsome man, and his attitude now wasn't half bad either. And he had a pair of the most sexy blue eyes he had ever seen.

He splashed some water on his face hoping it would cool him down. He patted his face dry with a napkin, took a deep breath and walked out. He decided that he would not fight his attraction for the man. He will try to let go of the past and see which way things will proceed along with Touya.

As he walked back, he saw Touya talking to a beautiful woman with long red hair. When he approached them, Touya halted his conversation and wrapped an arm around his shoulders pulling him in.

"And this Kaho, is Yue Daidouji." Touya introduced him to the woman who was looking at them with smiling eyes. "He is the love of my life."

Yue immediately blushed at the remark and knocked his elbow into Touya's stomach.

"Please forgive him." Yue said. "He forgot to take his medication this morning."

Touya was mock-glaring at Yue. He held out his hand and shook with the woman.

"Kaho Mizuki." She introduced herself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine." Yue returned politely.

There was an awkward silence after the greeting.

"Uhm..so, how do you know Touya?"

"Oh, we go way back." Kaho said smiling mischievously. "Back when he was a good little boy."

She stretched out her hand and ruffled Touya's hair, who batted her hand away.

"Kaho is part of our teaching staff." Said Touya. "I met her in my freshman year, when she was a senior. We went out a couple of times but realized that we are better off as friends."

Yue looked at him with wide eyes.

"You went out with a senior when you were just a freshman?"

Touya couldn't help but stare at Yue's face. The wide eyed expression was just so innocent and sexy, that Touya wanted to bend down and…..

Kaho giggled softly at the side, bringing Touya out of his day dream.

"Yeah well. He was quite charming back then. Not to mention he was one of the few people who were taller than me."

"Hey," Touya protested. "I'm still very charming."

Yue silently agreed.

"Excuse me, Miss Mizuki." Said Yue. "But I haven't seen you around school."

"And you probably won't." she said. "I teach only freshmen classes. And please call me Kaho. Only a select few in my acquaintance call me by my last name."

Yue smiled and nodded his head. He was beginning to like her already. The way she was chastising Touya, seemed like a caring older sister to him.

"Kaho! Come on, it's your turn."

A voice called out. All three of them turned their head and Yue's heart fluttered in his chest. It was Mr. Reed. He was standing there balancing a bowling ball in his hands.

"Excuse me gentlemen, I need to go and whip some senior staff butt."

Kaho winked at them, smiled and walked towards Reed, taking the ball from his hands.

"Well, might as well continue with the game."

Touya said and walked towards the ramp with the bowling balls to take his turn.

Mr. Reed smiled at Yue as he walked towards him. Yue's heart was beating a mile a minute. Mr. Reed was looking very handsome in his casual attire. Yue felt his face taking on a slight flush.

"Mr. Daidouji". He said as he approached. "How have you been?"

Yue felt his insides melt at the deep baritone of his voice.

Clam down, he told himself. If you get any redder, you'll burst into flames.

"I'm very well Sir, thank you." He choked out. His tongue felt dry.

"Are you having any trouble following your classes?" He asked. "Because if you are, my door is always open to help."

Yue smiled up at him.

"Thank you sir, that's good to know."

Reed seemed to be staring at his face in a trance. Yue was feeling slightly apprehensive at the look in his eyes. He looked as though he could devour him whole. Yue cleared his throat and Reed blinked his eyes rapidly. Once again, the cheery, open look was back on his face. Yue wrote off his earlier behavior as his imagination.

"So," began Reed. "I hope you are having a good time on your day off. Although, I'm not sure about the company you are keeping."

As if just realizing that Reed and himself weren't the only two people in the place, Yue whipped his head around. Touya was standing a few feet away, looking at them with a very peculiar expression. He was staring very hard at Reed, but when his eyes came to rest on Yue, they visibly softened.

"It's your turn." He told him.

"Umm. Excuse me." Yue turned around and looked at Reed. "It was nice seeing you Mr. Reed."

He made to walk away but was stopped with a hand on his arm. He froze with shock and looked at Reed with wide eyes, who was holding him in an iron grip.

"You don't know what type of a person Kinomoto is." He said softly, leaning towards him. "It's better if you just avoided the likes of him."

Yue tried to tell himself that Mr. Reed was doing this because he had his best interest at heart. But the strong, almost painful grip on his arm, and the hardened hateful eyes spoke otherwise.

Yue was once again gone rigid with shock. He couldn't move a muscle and couldn't remove the hand that was gripping him so tightly.

An arm was suddenly encircling his middle and holding him close to a warm body. A hand shot down and clamped down on Reed's wrist holding onto Yue.

"I do believe you want to let him go." Touya said in an icy tone.

Yue looked up from his angle and found Touya's gaze locked in a glare with Reed. It was as if a battle was taking place and he was caught in the middle.

"Is there a problem here?"

The soft, but firm voice of Kaho Mizuki rang out. Yue's arm was suddenly released, just when Touya let go of Reed's wrist. He was pulled backwards by the arm holding him firmly around the middle.

"Have fun on your day off, boys." Mr. Reed's called out. "I will see you in class on Monday." He flashed them a smile as if no tension had just passed between them.

Yue heaved a sigh. He untangled himself from the arm holding him and turned towards Touya.

"What in the world was that about?"

Touya just stared at him for a few seconds.

"You are too innocent for your own good, did you know that?"

Yue frowned.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Touya took a deep breath.

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

He looked around and found that Reed, even though was busy with the game, kept glancing in their direction.

"Let's blow this joint." He said. "I don't want to bowl anymore."

Yue frowned at Touya's odd behavior, but didn't comment on it. With a last fleeting glance in Mr. Reed's direction, he turned and followed Touya outside.

He had to jog a bit to catch up to the youth, who was walking briskly, taking long angry strides.

"Touya," Yue called out. "What's going on?"

He asked in a frustrated tone, as he stepped up to Touya. Touya looked at him sideways and stretched his hand out to lightly ruffle Yue's hair.

"Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head about."

Yue grimaced and batted off Touya's hand. At that moment, Yue's stomach decided to tell him it was feeding time by rumbling loudly. He immediately put a hand on his stomach and looked sheepishly up at Touya.

"Guess someone's hungry." He winked at Yue. "How about we grab some pizza?"

Yue enthusiastically nodded his head.

"Come on, I know this great place." Touya nodded forward. "And it's just around the corner."

They both walked down the street making idle chit chat.

"You know," Yue chuckled softly. "I am glad my older brother Yukito wasn't with us when we hit that snag at the video arcade." Yue said recalling the earlier incident. "he probably would have made a bigger scene than you, and we would've have to drag him out kicking and screaming."

Touya laughed softly.

"I like this Yukito already. If anyone could stand up to abuse and prejudice and kick the other guy's butt in the process, is all right in my book."

Yue just smiled and shook his head. By that time they had arrived at the pizzeria. Both of them walked in to the busy hustling and bustling crowd.

"Come on. I know these great seats."

Touya grabbed onto Yue's arm and dragged him off to a side. They walked past a large group of teenagers, and Yue recognized his sister among them. He waved to her when she looked up and she waved back enthusiastically. Yue was happy to see his loving sister having found friends and enjoying herself.

Before he could say anything to her though, he was dragged off deeper into the crowd.

Touya ended up at the far wall of the place, where two-seated tables aligned the wall. All of them were, however, occupied with young couples, enjoying low conversation while eating their food. Touya went up to a table, and glared harshly at the occupants there. The boy and the girl seated looked barely 16 years old. But when they noticed Touya standing there, staring at them, they both hastily grabbed their plates and exited. As they walked past him, Yue threw them an apologetic smile.

"Oh look, an empty table." Touya gestured with his hand and sat down. Upon seeing the look on Yue's face as he sat down, he heaved a sigh.

"Now what?!"

"That wasn't very nice." Said Yue.

"Hey, at least we got a good table right away." Touya waved a hand in the air. "So, it's all good. Anyway, you stay here and I'll go grab us some grub. There aren't any waiters around here, we gotta get up to the counter and grab out own food." He said standing up.

"You want pizza right?"

Yue nodded his head.

"Any toppings?"

"Plane would be just fine."

As Touya went to join the long queue, Yue placed his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hand. Today had been a very long day. With so much happening, him finding his attraction for Touya, seeing Mr. Reed and finding out that Mr. Reed might be a bit prejudiced towards Touya. By this time, he was feeling a bit tired.

True, he felt incredibly drawn towards Mr. Reed, but something about him didn't set well with Yue. Maybe that's just the way the man is. A bit pushy, opinionated, kind of like Touya. But when Mr. Reed had grabbed his arm, he felt that he was really about to hurt him. He lightly rubbed his arm where Reed had grabbed him so roughly. He wondered if it will bruise. Most likely it will. Yue was already so pale that even a small pinch would turn into an angry red mark.

"Here ya go space cadet."

Yue was snapped out of his thoughts as a piping hot, medium sized pizza was placed in front on him. It must have come straight from the oven for it was still sizzling. Mouth watering slightly, Yue grabbed the condiment from the table, and sprinkled first red peppers and then garlic powder on his pizza. Both Touya and Yue dug into their pizza, for both boys by that time, were starving. There was no conversation for a while, as they both enjoyed their meal.

"Can I ask you something?" Touya was more than half way through his meal, and was now taking small bites.

"What do you think of Mr. Reed?"

Yue nearly choked on his next bite.

"I mean," Touya continued. "I'm sure he seems like a good guy to you and all, but what do you really think of him?"

Yue chewed his food for a while, and thought over his question.

"I think he's a really good teacher and he seems like a nice person." Said Yue. "Why do you ask?"

"Do you like him?"

This time Yue did choke on his drink.

"You are very blunt, aren't you?"

Touya ignored his comment.

"There are a lot of people who like him. Maybe because he's good-looking, or he's a good teacher or whatever reason."

Yue just looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"What I want to say to you is, be careful. Looks can be deceiving."

Yue raised his eyebrows.

"Thanks for the advice, but I'm sure I can take care of myself."

Touya harrumphed.

"Of course. Like you did earlier."

Yue blushed softly, remembering Touya's arm wrapped around his frame.

"I was just shocked, o.k."

Touya raised his eyebrows but didn't say anything. They finished the rest of their food in silence.

"Come on." Touya said, wiping his mouth clean and throwing the napkin on the table. "I'll give you a ride to your car."

They both deposited the garbage in the can and headed for the door.

Thankfully, it was a shorter ride this time. With Touya taking it easy on the gas and handling it a much moderate pace. They arrived back at the café in no time. Touya stopped his bike right by where Yue had parked the care.

Yue got off and straightened his clothes, subconsciously. He looked up at Touya who was still seated, with both his feet planted on the ground.

"Uhm. I had a good time today." Yue said with a small smile. He felt as though his stomach was full of butterflies. He felt nervous as if he was saying goodbye after his first date.

Touya was staring at him intently.

"I'm glad." He said in a low deep voice, his eyes never leaving his face.

Yue was fidgeting slightly.

"What?" he finally asked. "What are you looking at?"

Touya tilted his head to the side.

"Has anyone ever told you that you have an unbelievably beautiful face?"

Yue spluttered. Touya shot out a hand, grabbed him by the back of his neck and brought his face down. He gave him a soft kiss on his forehead, which left Yue standing dumbstruck staring at him.

"See you in school on Monday."

Touya said to him, kicked his bike back into life, and rode off into the slowly setting sun.

* * *

To Be Continued……hopefully very soon heheheheeeee ;;;;

AN: Please ignore the spelling or grammatical errors, seriously I will be really appreciate it if you drop me a line to tell me what do you think. And don't worry, I will not be going on another hiatus, I want to finish all my stories and am seriously writing now. Until next time. Bye for now.


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